Origins
Named after Wile E. Coyote, the Looney Tunes character known for constructing elaborate plans that repeatedly fail because they ignore obvious realities. The name functions as cultural shorthand for overengineering, misplaced confidence, and self-authored failure.
Meaning
Wile is the moment we mistake complexity for intelligence and planning for control. We build increasingly elaborate strategies to manage our addiction while quietly excluding the one truth that keeps undoing every plan. In Wile, evidence is not missing, it is deliberately bypassed. Each failure feels surprising, even though it follows the same script every time.
Usage
Looking back, most of our plans were pure Wile, impressive on paper and doomed in reality.