Naming harm without panic
60–75 · Any group
Name a problem so you can talk about it, instead of talking about a feeling. Serious is not the same as the end of the world.
Opening question
When have we treated a nuisance as a catastrophe, or a catastrophe as a nuisance, because we lacked a shared scale?
To hold together
- What would it take for us to say 'this is serious' without saying 'this is the end'?
- Whose alarm do we trust, and whose do we dismiss?
- What happens in a family or a board when fear is the only language on offer?
A practice
Open the map. Pick one high-scored concern and one modest one. Read both definitions aloud. Ask: what would it cost us to confuse them?
Concerns to name in the room
Principles to sit beside the facts
Proportion
The grave and the manageable are both treated with respect.
Truthfulness
Every claim sourced. Uncertainty stated as such. Never trade in fear.
Hope
Stand in uncertainty, where there is room to act — not in optimism or despair.
Read or watch beforehand
One piece is enough. Save the rest for later.
Arvind Narayanan
Professor of computer science · Princeton
Cuts through AI marketing. AI Snake Oil is a calm test of which claims are real, which are premature, and which cannot work as sold.