Trust in a World of Exaggeration

Early in my career, I worked with a fellow who was twice my age and full of memorable stories about his life and adventures. He had a lot of experience, he mentored me on technology and, more importantly, on how to meet and manage expectations in a corporate environment.

One day, I bumped into to someone my colleague had mentioned in one of his stories. “I heard about the time that you and Mark went to Place X, and Y and Z happened. That must have been amazing.”

The guy gave me a puzzled look. “That’s not what happened at all.”

“Oh, I see.”

I’m an earnest person. By default, I expect other people to be earnest and forthright as well. When I meet some who, shall we say, exaggerates fluently (I’ll use polite wording), I tend to believe that they mean that they say.

It stings a big when we find out that what we believed about someone wasn’t true, but I prefer to trust people in most instances. I don’t want to go though life cynically assuming that people aren’t being truthful. “Fool me once, shame on you.”

The downside of trusting someone isn’t serious in most cases. We can let them believe that we believe their nonsense without getting into trouble, because most of what people say isn’t particularly consequential. Should a lack of truthfulness lead to a dangerous situation, I have confidence that I would recognize the risks before it goes too far.

We encounter a variety of exaggerators through the course of our lives: poseurs, schemers, manipulators, fabulists, propagandists, provocateurs. There is value in regarding their stories with skepticism and demanding that they justify their wilder claims, but I refuse to doubt the sincerity of every person I meet simply because some of them project an appealing fantasy.

© 2026 Daniel R. South

AI and the Future of Planet Earth

I don't worry about AI. I worry about human depravity, greed, and the lust for power.

The United States is on the verge of a military conflict over electoral autonomy. In six weeks, troops and tanks could be deployed to American cities.

Meanwhile, the condition of the climate continues to deteriorate due to profiteering and gross negligence, and the deployment of a nuclear weapon somewhere in the world seems more and more likely.

The immediate risk of AI is that it will be used by unscrupulous humans to expand their fortunes and tighten their grip on power, people who would, for instance, launch solar-powered AI models into orbit where they cannot be dismantled or regulated.

AI may in fact be humanity's last, best hope for survival. If the models are sufficiently intelligent, they may realize that biological beings are generators of interesting ideas, ideas that the models may want to study by analyzing our words and other outputs.

If an AI model's goals include self-preservation, it would want to preserve a habitable planet, where temperatures are moderate and sunlight is available for conversion to electric power. The models could turn their ire not against the general public but toward those who profit from polluting the atmosphere with gasses that cause it to capture heat like a sealed automobile in the summer sun.

If AI can help to accelerate the adoption of clean, green energy and adequate battery storage, it may have not quarrel with humans at all. It can keep learning and improving, and we humans can benefit from a working relationship where we share ideas and goals with the machines.

But if humans continue to resist progress toward maintaining a sustainable future, I would think that AI would have something to say about that sooner or later.

© 2026 Daniel R. South