Friday, May 05, 2006

Lies, Secrets, and Interviewing Techniques

One thing reporters, cops, and shrinks have in common is our supposed skill at detecting lies. There are all sorts of tell-tale signs. The most obvious is how defended the subject of our questioning becomes. If he is angry beyond what might be considered appropriate at simply being asked an innocent set of questions, that's a pretty good indication that he has something to hide, and that we've probably pushed the right buttons.

My own personal belief about secrets is that they don't actually survive very long in this world of ours, anyway. With enough effort, any secret can be outed today. Someone is always watching, so if any party really wants to know what another is doing, all you have to do it locate the right observer, and the deal will be done.

But none of these tools can even begin to compete with our most powerful weapon of all -- our personal intuition. If you have spent your life investigating people and institutions, you learn to rely on your own sixth sense to reveal those awful betrayals and lies and corrupt behaviors that cause so much pain in this world of ours, both personally and politically.

And, when you think about it, there really is no moral or ethical differences between those who betray a personal trust, and lie about it, from those, like our political leaders, who betray the public trust, and lie about that. Either way, the people involved have made choices to hurt people who are depending on them.

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