Sweet Treats and an Unforgettable List - 1/17/2026

Abstract

Before we'd even finished saying "I won't do it again," they start handing out new treats. Such a sight simply fills us with anger. However, simply turning away in anger won't change anything. Because even if we walk away, someone else will take the treat. This article examines the only writing implement we should have in a system that assumes promises will be broken.

Keywords

Expiration date of promises, fighting forgetting, credit record, automatic liquidation

Magic wands and empty promises

Once upon a time, there was a wizard with a magical wand. He claimed that with a wave of his wand, heavy luggage would disappear and coveted gold coins would fall from the sky. The people were delighted and invited him into the center of the square.

However, within a week, people realized that the luggage had not disappeared; what had fallen was merely cheap sweets shaped like gold coins. When the people protested, the wizard calmly replied, "Oh, the last spell was a little old. This one is even better. I'll cast a spell that will eliminate all your taxes starting tomorrow."

We call the wizard a terrible liar and discuss how we should ban him from the town square next time, since that seems like the most reasonable solution. But the next month, another wizard comes along and casts a similar, or perhaps even sweeter, spell. People gather in the town square again, filled with faint hope. This cycle never ends.

The Comedy of the Town Square

Why does the same thing keep repeating itself? It's because we, the people who gather in the town square, have a crucial flaw: a mechanism known as "memory retention."

To the wizards standing in the town square, what they've said in the past is merely a means to elicit applause in the present moment. To them, words aren't a firm promise, but rather like bait for catching fish. Once the fish is caught, it doesn't matter what the bait was.

The appeal of a spell = the magnitude of expectations ÷ the rate of forgetting past defaults

On the other hand, we tend to choose passive resistance by not voting. But that doesn't bother the wizard. Even if you leave the forum, there are plenty of others who want to hear the spell. Your silence is the same as quietly approving the wizard's next lie.

Compiling an indelible list

So what should we do? It's not about banishing wizards from the forum or covering our ears. What we should do is build a giant, indelible "wall of records" at the entrance to the forum.

Every spell the wizard ever cast, when it faded, how bitter that sweet was... we should write it all down so that anyone who comes to the forum can read it again at any time. Creating an environment where, when they try to cast a new spell, their voice collides with the records of the past carved into the wall, turning them into a laughing stock. That's the only way to neutralize a wizard's "bait."

Not voting may be a temporary way to appease emotions, but it leaves the wizard's history blank, and he continues to cast his magic in another forum under a new guise.

Clearing the lies = permanent records + transparency that anyone can see.

What's needed is cold-hearted observation that treats their words as a "contract" and clearly records any breaches of it, leaving no room for escape. We need to turn the lies they tell into "visible debts" that will haunt them for years to come. What we need is not the right to be swayed by momentary enthusiasm, but a pen with indelible ink that will continuously record the facts.