Person: Philip, I am serious. I am angry at you over something that happened because of your maneuvering.

Philip: Oh, but you won't stay it in English. How do I know that you are even really saying anything, given that your stego-text above is merely what I think you might be saying?

Person: Well, this is my preferred communication style. You want it your way, and I want it my way.

Philip: That's fine for social interactions; we don't have to be friends. The problem is, I and many others have dealt with many "stego-liars," who begin deniable, highly ambiguous "stego chats" with me and then pivot and say that "they never meant what I thought they meant" if they please, and so given this repudiability, people act as though the conversation never happened. Thus, the only proper way to discuss important issues is via English or another natural language; we need a dictionary to talk, or we cannot have non-repudiability.

Person: Nevertheless, I insist that I present a cryptic challenge to you, and if you don't get it right, then you're in big trouble and will lose out, due to my secret capability. That is what you did to others.

Philip: That is unacceptable to me and based on a false premise. I made myself available to talk via email with anyone who wanted to. I provided excellent strategic advice on how to address many situations, including political and career situations. I generously provided a lot of great advice and was open to verbal discussions; I did my best, and it is not my fault that everyone refused to discuss political issues with me. There is literally nothing more I could have done to do a better job. If you want to "present me with a cryptic challenge" that I must complete to avoid a loss, then I suggest that you email me the challenge and the details of it as soon as you are able to do that. That would be as fair as I have been. Your needs and priorities and desire matter, and I would point out that many other people have needs and priorities, too. There are people who are dying in other countries who have not had a chance to leave or do anything about it, e.g.., people in extreme poverty in Africa and Muslims being detained in China in human rights abuses. I prioritize the needs and improved outcomes of such people beyond yours, although I do care about average citizens, because a) these people are much more in need of help, and b) there are things that people like you could probably do to talk to me about your concerns in English so that I would know that I wasn't being lied to, but no one in that group wants to do that, so I'm off the hook. Me getting emails might be something others would see as a "big treat" for me or something, but mainly, it is the best way to communicate with me, and if you don't do it, then you cannot say I haven't made myself available to talk, so if you lose out big later, I'll be covered as having done it right and I'll win the debate.

-Philip White (philipjwhite@yahoo.com)