The Laws of Ambiguity

Something I posted on twitter

First Law of Ambiguity: What happens in vagueness stays in vagueness, unless acted upon by a clarifying force.

"What happens in vagueness stays in vagueness" is a common enough phrase that it even appears on some t-shirts. It is also a play on the "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". So I can't take credit for this particular phrase. But as I came across it a few days ago, my mind immediately made a link to Newton's first law of motion, resulting in my specific version articulated above.

Allen Frances proposed in response to my tweet the Second Law Of Ambiguity: Often there is no clarifying force and we must learn to live vagueness.

In response to that, Dariusz GalasiƄski proposed the Third Law of AmbiguityAmbiguity is hard to spot, certainty prevails. Even when spotted the desire to reject it and replace it with certainty prevails.