# Distrusting Every System Creates Dependence on Charismatic Strangers by Bryant McGill > “The person who says ‘I trust no system’ imagines this makes them impossible to control. In practice it often makes them dependent upon whichever charismatic stranger can explain the systems they refused to learn.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Author-supplied exact original:** “The person who says ‘I trust no system’ imagines this makes them impossible to control. In practice it often makes them dependent upon whichever charismatic stranger can explain the systems they refused to learn.” — supplied directly by Bryant McGill for [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]]. - **Source article:** [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]] — Bryant McGill identifies this article as the originating publication for this Reminder. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Article:** [[articles/How AI Early Adopters Became a Privilege Cult|How AI Early Adopters Became a Privilege Cult]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/AI Safety|AI Safety]] - [[wiki/Digital Divide|Digital Divide]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The person who says ‘I trust no system’ imagines this makes them impossible to control. In practice it often makes them dependent upon whichever charismatic stranger can explain the systems they refused to learn.” — Bryant McGill, The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-distrusting-every-system-creates-dependence-on-charismatic-strangers ```