The Great Failure
Discourse Power
Discourse power brings credibility, and credibility brings discourse power.
Measurability
Keep things measurable, and collectively construct control over the system.
Concealing Truth
Truth that should be made explicit is deliberately hidden, mildly damaging trust. Concealment ensures safety, borrowing from future credibility.
Dual Narrative
A dual narrative of success and consolation brings a sober confusion, allowing ambiguity to excuse failure.
Misjudging Risk
Narrative bias leads to false optimism.
Acquired Silence
Widespread acquired silence slows information flow, turning silence into a rational survival strategy.
Local Stubbornness
Localized stubbornness persists, lagging behind and creating sharp contrasts that remain unresolved, relying on the system's self-regulation while nurturing new stubborn parts.
Misattribution
Using local behavioral issues to evade systemic design problems.
Obedience Testing
Continuing to apply traditional experiences that are no longer reliable, turning them into obedience tests.
Ensuring Non‑Exit
Cultivating an inertial environment that raises the cost of exit.
Active Proliferation
Protecting extreme cases without resolving them, allowing the system to proliferate on its own.
If failure is not defined, it does not occur. Ambiguity is where bargaining power lies.