The Oracle's Trap

People come to you to understand.

Not for facts—they can find those anywhere. They come for interpretation. For context. For the answer to "what does this mean?"

You have a gift for sensemaking. You can look at a confusing situation and construct a narrative that makes it legible. You can take chaos and give it shape. People leave conversations with you feeling less confused, more oriented, more capable of navigating.

This is power. More than you might realize.

And it's starting to feel like a trap.

Maybe you're overwhelmed by the responsibility. Everyone wants you to tell them what things mean, and you're not sure you know. But they look at you with such expectation.

Maybe your interpretations keep getting weaponized. You offer a reading of a situation and watch people use it in ways you didn't intend—sometimes harmful ways. The meaning you made takes on a life of its own.

Maybe you've stopped being able to speak honestly. You see what's happening, you understand it, but saying what you see would cause too much disruption. So you stay quiet, and the silence is eating you.

However you got here, you're playing the Meaning Game. And the oracle's chair might be more throne than you realized.

Let's make it visible.

What Is the Meaning Game?

The Meaning Game answers one question: What does this mean for how we live?

This is the game of sensemaking. Interpreting events. Creating narratives that help people understand their experience and navigate uncertainty.

It's a crucial game because humans need meaning. We don't just want to know what happened—we want to know what it means. We want stories that make sense of chaos, that locate us in a larger context, that tell us what to do next.

But the Meaning Game has a dangerous asymmetry: the person who shapes meaning shapes reality, often without consent.

When you tell someone what something means, you're not just describing—you're constructing. Your interpretation becomes their lens. They see through your frame, often without realizing they've adopted it.

This is power. It's also responsibility. And most people playing the Meaning Game don't fully reckon with either.