“This goes to a key point of my attempting to reinvent the Internet from the edge and my efforts at a workshop that I attended last week. We tend to assume that we can trust ‘www.JohnSmith.com’ to be the one true John Smith. Not only is that not at all true but the concept is actually far more ambiguous than the “body” people think – those who see biometrics as the answer. They miss the concepts of agency and delegation. As in the Hughes example – just because I snatched a lock of his hair doesn’t mean I have the authority to represent him – though a lock of hair is a major ingredient in stealing his soul. Conversely just because John Smith wrote the book doesn’t mean it isn’t a genuine John Clancy Inc novel. Or an “as told to” book, either.

In fact, the more we are certain the more we are open to confidence games (cons). This is the basis for the “Nigeria” scams – all the information they provide is accurate but for a glitch down the line. Once you are foolish enough to verify you’re in too deep.

This is why I’m focusing on separating the mechanism from the social judgment. The simple idea is that I can use capability keys (long numbers) without intrinsic semantics and then let you use the mechanisms you choose to decide what they mean. One crucial requirement is the need to be able to say “oops” or “maybe”.

I don’t have the answers yet but the first step is to recognize that I am not fighting against a system that works – it’s just the opposite. We have a system that inspires false confidence. That’s OK as long as we understand the risks. Perhaps we’ll have a generation that is comfortable dealing with this world eventually.

Maybe we already do – I can’t help (as a former New Yorker) that Southern hospitality is about just such a distinction between the illusion and reality. Everyone is sickeningly nice – so you learn to discount the façade. Maybe that’s also true for the Japanese who spell “NO” y-e-s.

Where is George Lakoff when we need him? Yeah, I know, Berkeley. This isn’t his central issue but it does reflect the presumption of hierarchical authority that he cites in “Moral Politics”. It’s just too comforting to think that some authority or regulator knows best. Just like Daddy used to …