Futility

Futility may be defined as uselessness as the consequence of having no practical result.

Albert O. Hirschman offers the Futility Thesis - the assertion that nothing will change as a consequence or Plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose - as the second of his three theses or arguments used by conservatives to oppose proposed policy change. See Albert O. Hirschman. 1991. The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674768671 (cloth) and ISBN 067476868X (paper).

For interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, the "futility technique" onvolves efforts to convince the "source" (interrogation subject) that resistance to questioning is futile. See Kathleen T. Rhem, "Alleged Guantanamo Abuse Did Not Rise to level of 'Inhumane.' American Armed Forces Press Service. July 13, 2005. Alleged News Article