A sort of contradicting thing, but I guess I could describe it as a problem for which there is no solution until you actually solve it. Or maybe a problem for which the result of solving it is the solution itself. As an example (maybe not the greatest, but): "I need strength to get what I want, but what I want is what would give me strength". I might call it a conundrum, but I was wondering if there was a more specific word for it. EDIT: Thought I'd include this here. Dnaiel found a term for it.
It sounds related to "begging the question", where the proof of X being true requires that X be true. Example: "Everything in the Bible is true." "How do you know?" "Because God says so." "How do you know that God says so?" "Because the Bible tells us that he does, and everything in the Bible is true!" I realize that it's not the same thing; I just suggest it on the theory that it's a new avenue for Googling that might lead to more phrases or adjectives.
If I were coining a term, I'd say "circular solution." But no one would know what I meant without an explanation.
Conundrum is what I was thinking too. Mainly because it's a cool sounding word. I'm not sure if there's a specific word that describes what you intended. The God and Bible example @ChickenFreak gave is a textbook example of a circular argument, which is one of the most common fallacies in logic and argumentation. Not sure if that's how you intended the question to read, but the framework seems to be the same. I think I might have heard somebody say, "There are no straight answers to circular problems" somewhere, but that might not be what you meant either.
Conundrum is a good word, but I don't think it quite describes what you're after, @Skaruts . A conundrum can be similar to a riddle, but one that's solved with a pun. Or it can be a problem that is extremely difficult to handle—because no solution will be a good one. The movie Sophie's Choice contained a conundrum. Does Sophie sacrifice her son or her daughter? She has to choose one or the other, or they both die. I think @OurJud has come closest to naming your dilemma ...but I also think there's another, more general word to describe it. And I'm danged if I can think of it just now. One of those 4am 'eureka!' moments in my future, no doubt.
I don't think there is a word for that, but there should be. Perhaps you should invent the word. Like Tolkien did with "Bewuthered"... "How do I get a job without experience?" wined Dave. "And how do I get experience without a job? It is a total combulblock!" "That's not a combulblock." scolded Jessica. "What do you think internships are for."
@Homer Potvin, I don't feel inclined to call it a fallacy, as there are cases where it is (or at least seems to be) a plausible problem. The job experience thing that @Paul Kinsella mentioned is actually a great example that some people actually have felt it in the real world, since most employers ask for experienced workers in their job ads: "I need experience to get a job, but I need a job to get experience". You kind of need to solve the problem in order to solve the problem... Oh well... @ChickenFreak, maybe it's a circulution or something of the sort.
I was referring to the example @ChickenFreak gave earlier. Not your OP. Like I said earlier, that was a horse of a different color.
@Homer Potvin, yea, I noticed, but I was thinking that it can be a fallacious problem, although I'm not too sure. Sorry, I could've been clear on that. Anyway, Joe lost his replacement light bulb and couldn't find it in the dark. "I guess I'd need to screw that damn light bulb in order to even see where the hell I put it...", he said.
The most frustrating example is when I can't connect to the Internet, and the help file wants to send me to a web page. AHH! FOUND IT! Here's your term: The classic "buried shovel". http://new_words.enacademic.com/676/buried_shovel http://wordspy.com/index.php?word=buried-shovel
OH YEAH! *rips off shirt* I'm da man! I'm gonna get some tonight. Well, as soon as I buy this stranger here a new shirt. But yeah!
Brilliant! Thanks. I guess it could also be called "packaged scissors". Funny that there's no wiki page for it, though...
I'm not sure. I might be. But the definition of conundrum I looked at included a snippet from one of the Batman movies, where the Joker tells a roomful of people that if they press a button, 500 people in the next building will die in an explosion. However, the Joker also mentions that the people in the next building have also got a button and are also faced with the same choice. So....
