#206: Value of Secrets, Bait Question & How to Keep a Secret
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Uncovering Secrets
I. Value of Secrets
Secrets are fascinating, intriguing and mysterious. But their real purpose is much more practical. Former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante explains the Value of Secrets from the perspective of an intelligence agency:
The value of secrets I have seen is that secrets create space. Secrets give opportunity for security, they give opportunity for thinking, they give space. And space is an incredibly advantageous thing to have.
If you know something somebody else doesn’t know, even if it’s just 15 or 20 minutes different, you can direct, you can change the course of fate.
—Andrew Bustamante, Why is CIA so secretive?
II. Bait Question
Ever wondered how interrogators uncover secrets by detecting lies and deception? They know how to ask good questions and spot changes in behaviour. According to interrogation expert Chase Hughes, a Bait Question is one of the most effective ways:
Let’s say a crime happens. Let’s say some $10,000 were stolen from a grocery store or something. I’ve got you [Morgan, his interviewer] in here as a suspect. Let’s say you did it. I might say:
“Morgan, is there any reason that you can think of that a video showed up from a black and white camera, maybe a security camera, that showed that you took the money?”
If you knew that there were no video cameras, you’d say “Nah.” You’d be comfortable, right? Then I make it more vague:
“Morgan, is there any reason that somebody would’ve said that they saw your car parked outside that store that evening?”
You don’t know how many people I’ve talked to. And the only time that you’d get nervous is if you were there.
—Chase Hughes, How An Interrogation Expert Spots A LIAR
“Is there any reason X might have happened / somebody would say you did X?” also works on your kids. The key here is that your toddler doesn’t know if you already have evidence of their crime: hiding your shoes in the dishwasher.
III. How to Keep a Secret
What’s the best way to keep a secret? According to English writer George Orwell, you must guard against the weakest link:
If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself. You must know all the while that it is there, but until it is needed you must never let it emerge into your consciousness in any shape that can be given a name.
—George Orwell
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Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com