Optimizing for Ambiguity Part 1: The Quest for Clearer Confusion

Chapter 1: The Problem with Clear Thinking

It's a well-known fact that humans are terrible at understanding things. I mean, have you met your neighbor? They're like, "Oh, you're a plumber?" And you're like, "Uh, no, I'm an existential crisis." And then they just nod and walk away. It's like, "Uh, no, I'm not a plumber, I'm an existential crisis. I'm a manifestation of the human condition." And then they just nod and walk away with their 'I'm going to go get some existential dread' t-shirt.

We're not even going to talk about the prophets who said the apocalypse would happen on a Tuesday. Or the guy who claimed to have seen a UFO in 1975. No, today we're minimalist about it. We're going to focus on how to make things less clear, more ambiguous.

Chapter 2: The Ambiguity is the Goal

ประกThe goal here is not to find a clear answer. The goal here is to make things more confusing, more unclear. To make the user question their life choices. Like, "What am I doing with my life, exactly?"

So we'll start by using words like 'suddenly,' 'perhaps,' and 'maybe.' We'll use words that make you wonder. Words that make you think, "Wait, did they mean to say...?"

Continue on to Part 2: The Art of Confusion