Like ‘first principles’ physics: Action > Reaction
With great power comes great responsibility
With great promises (action)
comes great expectations (reaction)
When expectations are not met (action)
it invite SCRUTINY (reaction)...
If it happens once, who cares?
If it happens twice, a few take notice
If it happens alot, many see a pattern
And a few of those many say something, raise awareness, urge those without awareness to become aware...
It’s the whole: ‘you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time’
It’s also the ASYMMETRY of power—TRANSIENT without TRUTH (unless one controls the food or armies).
—and anyone who relies on the provision of some kind (votes, grants, fans, investment, sales/customers) from the masses...
—the more critical it is that masses of less celebrated or less powerful speak truth to power—lest the masses get exploited to their detriment and to the exploiter’s benefit
They see others not seeing what they see; see them being misled or taken advantage of
Benevelonce? Nah.
More likely they want status in being RIGHT (+ status taken AWAY from a sooth-sayer or huckster. Status is currency (and a form of ill-gotten gains)
the VERY thing we celebrate of brash bold entrepeneurs: strength to STAND OUT + not FIT IN
to act/believe contrary to the mainstream masses
to toil or suffer in solitude
to endure the discomforting risk of being ostracized—to see or believe a thing others do not-
SCIENTIST
DETECTIVE
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST
SKEPTICAL SHORT-SELLER does
They dont take things at face value
They seek evidence: empirical results, statistical significance, multiple sources, forensic accounting...
—Houdini (Randi @pennjillette @MrTeller @derrenBrown @michaelshermer modern torch-bearers)
debunking new-age charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, whose claims are cons (manipulating the belief of the gullible + credulous)
They are not merely cynics or haters or nattering naybobs of negativity.
Nor are they like that with everything or everyone—
only the things they suspect seem fishy, smell funny, are ‘off”, things that are—SUSPECT.
Maybe some were duped or fooled or conned (action) and developed skepticism (reaction) like a muscle against malevelont misleading manipulative marauders.
Or maybe it’s just status-seeking + signaling that they deserve credit + trust (as another lies)
When inestigative journalists (+scientists) got critical shining sunlight—they got attacked.
What do people or companies with nothing to hide do?
They deliver, exceed expectations, tell the truth.
They don’t spin, obfuscate or attack—
We experienced the opposite most recently with MiMedx (MDXG) + almost 2 decades agp with Enron. Big time.
What did they both do? Attack!
He is natural skeptic + rational investors and models his skepticism
When facts get SPUN, the skeptics get SPUN UP to SPIN DOWN the lies
Be thankful for skeptics—they hold the lanterns seeking honest men
The dishonest live in shadows but without SCRUTINY—also in the light of day