A friend’s mother was a doctor. Long ago, back in the 90s, she was talking about how there was some medical certification test that non-English speakers were passing simply by noticing key words in the question and correct answer.
It resolves if you realize that “trust” can refer to an action taken which will only turn out okay if the thing trusted is indeed trustworthy.
For example, a field agent reports that there’s a forbidden shipment of firearms passing through X port on such a such date.
“Trust but verify” in this situation means:
Trust the intel by adding security to that port
Verify the intel by checking with other redundant agents
That’s my take on it at least. You take whatever action would be warranted if the intel is correct. But you also work to verify the intel (you just don’t wait for the confirmation to take action).
This is actually how I would start out if I were developing this algorithm. I always start with the highest-level code first, then flesh out all the details in function definitions.
The whole world is indeed in a bad mood and the reason is we’re all addicted to social media, which makes people miserable.
It’s impossible to fully patrol one’s territory in cyberspace. That means our hippocampus never sends the “all clear” signal which would allow us to relax from fight or flight mode.
As a result, the entire population of humanity is in an unprecedented state of hypervigilance.
All signs point to yes