Thanks, this nicely encapsulated what I was circling around as I read it. I kept reaching for much more absurd cases, like “Mr. President, you’re a liar for not disclosing all the details of the US latest military hardware when asked.”
Even aside from that… I’m a human with finite time and intelligence, I don’t actually have the ability to consistently avoid lies of omissions even if that were my goal.
Plus, I do think it’s relevant that many of our most important social institutions are adversarial. Trials, business decisions, things like that. I expect that there are non-adversarial systems that can outperform these, but today we don’t have them, and you need more than a unilateral decision to change such systems. Professionally, I know a significant amount of information that doesn’t belong to me, that I am not at liberty to disclose due to contracts I’m covered under, or that was otherwise told to me in confidence (or found out by me inadvertently when it’s someone else’s private information). This information colors many other beliefs and expectations. If you ask me a question where the answer depends in part on this non-disclosable information, do I tell you my true belief, knowing you might be able to then deduce the info I wasn’t supposed to disclose? Or do I tell you what I would have believed, had I not known that info? Or some third thing? Are any of the available options honest?
Thanks, this nicely encapsulated what I was circling around as I read it. I kept reaching for much more absurd cases, like “Mr. President, you’re a liar for not disclosing all the details of the US latest military hardware when asked.”
Even aside from that… I’m a human with finite time and intelligence, I don’t actually have the ability to consistently avoid lies of omissions even if that were my goal.
Plus, I do think it’s relevant that many of our most important social institutions are adversarial. Trials, business decisions, things like that. I expect that there are non-adversarial systems that can outperform these, but today we don’t have them, and you need more than a unilateral decision to change such systems. Professionally, I know a significant amount of information that doesn’t belong to me, that I am not at liberty to disclose due to contracts I’m covered under, or that was otherwise told to me in confidence (or found out by me inadvertently when it’s someone else’s private information). This information colors many other beliefs and expectations. If you ask me a question where the answer depends in part on this non-disclosable information, do I tell you my true belief, knowing you might be able to then deduce the info I wasn’t supposed to disclose? Or do I tell you what I would have believed, had I not known that info? Or some third thing? Are any of the available options honest?