The point is, certain bad things can only happen if both parties in an interaction fail to abide by Postel’s law, so if such a thing happens to me, I don’t get to chide the other party for violating Postel’s law, because so did I.
In my own mind I’ve always named this “Two Way Slack”, but never had such a concise formulation before. Thanks!
But I disagree with your comment a bit, at least in the general human case. Slack on both ends tolerates some deviation from Postel’s law. You get very robust when both sides observe it, still some robustness without it, but there’s still always the potential for failure.
That assumes neither party is actively malicious. If one of the parties is in fact malicious abiding by Postel’s law makes it more likely that you can be hacked.
Yeah, setting the prior toward good will, which seems the proper course in a social get together. There are predators out there, and there are dicks, but better to have a fairly high bar before assuming either in that context, IMO.
The question is how much damage can improperly trusting someone cause. In particular the woman in the OP could reasonably be described as ideologically driven.
Yeah. Alone in a parking garage with someone—don’t extend that trust so easily. Though I’d say it’s easy to be paranoid, for me at least, and the expected cost of fear is likely greater than the expected cost from violated trust. A woman could not trust the guy from the meeting who offers to walk her to her car, thereby being alone should someone else be there. There is a safety cost in not trusting people. And just a cost in lost opportunities of connection with others.
In particular the woman in the OP could reasonably be described as ideologically driven.
I have some suspicions of that on my part as well. I’m trying to extend her a little trust, and take her at her word in her latest update.
Yes, but someone could write the same thing about offense.
Of course.
The point is, certain bad things can only happen if both parties in an interaction fail to abide by Postel’s law, so if such a thing happens to me, I don’t get to chide the other party for violating Postel’s law, because so did I.
Postel’s law—love it! Just talking with the roommate the other day about why we get along so well. Postel’s law is the perfect summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robustness_Principle
In my own mind I’ve always named this “Two Way Slack”, but never had such a concise formulation before. Thanks!
But I disagree with your comment a bit, at least in the general human case. Slack on both ends tolerates some deviation from Postel’s law. You get very robust when both sides observe it, still some robustness without it, but there’s still always the potential for failure.
That assumes neither party is actively malicious. If one of the parties is in fact malicious abiding by Postel’s law makes it more likely that you can be hacked.
Yeah, setting the prior toward good will, which seems the proper course in a social get together. There are predators out there, and there are dicks, but better to have a fairly high bar before assuming either in that context, IMO.
The question is how much damage can improperly trusting someone cause. In particular the woman in the OP could reasonably be described as ideologically driven.
Yeah. Alone in a parking garage with someone—don’t extend that trust so easily. Though I’d say it’s easy to be paranoid, for me at least, and the expected cost of fear is likely greater than the expected cost from violated trust. A woman could not trust the guy from the meeting who offers to walk her to her car, thereby being alone should someone else be there. There is a safety cost in not trusting people. And just a cost in lost opportunities of connection with others.
I have some suspicions of that on my part as well. I’m trying to extend her a little trust, and take her at her word in her latest update.