162 - Candor

I realized an interesting parallel the other day when referencing the "Qowat Milat" sci-fi example of a group that communicates with complete candor. For those unfamiliar, it refers to a group within the Star Trek universe, among the Romulan Empire.

The irony that came to mind is that most of the tech industry today, particularly focused on AI, follows the stereotypical Romulan approach of maximum secrecy, sabotage, subterfuge, deception, and outright lying. They create maximally untrustworthy content and services, even as they themselves are maximally untrustworthy. Speaking with candor among that lot can get you glaring at you like Picard walking into a "Romulans Only" bar.

Comfortable levels of candor vary strongly by culture and context, with examples of groups who favor much more complete candor being ASD individuals and Dutch culture. Examples of those who favor less candor are sociopathic individuals and British culture. After spending time in both the Netherlands and the UK I can attest to both examples.

Among cultures and individuals alike these preferences for varying levels of candor and ways of communicating don't make one group superior to another, but rather they make groups and individuals better suited for different roles, and in different conditions and contexts.

Where things turn sour is when roles and candor are at odds with one another, as we now see in an AI domain dominated by snake oil sales, theft, other illegal activities, and hype driving the highest raising and highest valuation companies. Over the past year and change in particular, an increasing number of frauds in AI have been called on as though they were experts, ignoring the glaring and monstrous conflicts of interest, to dictate policy in the space. Not only that, some are now being shoehorned into chairing committees whose sole purpose is to further entrench those forms of fraud, like lobbyists, but with government-paid salaries.

Those lacking candor frequently pivot hard when the wind starts blowing in a new direction since the smoke they blow is carried on that wind. PR often attempts to stitch the new pivot to the old narrative, but that relies primarily on the absence of any meaningful scrutiny to pass unnoticed.

I'll still be a blunt hermit who'd rather avoid social media and focus on research tomorrow, and the day after, even as I continue reading new books and research every day. For my style of candor-focused communication, the mountain top looks more like Grady Booch or Nassim Nicholas Taleb than Satya Nadella or Jensen Huang.

No future can be built on a foundation of theft, deception, and PR spin-doctoring. "Please my friend, choose to live."