Episode 377

To Bear False Witness

If we grow up in a developed nation, we might not have exposure to shills and various scams that go on in the street in many parts of the world. As a consequence, we don’t learn the street smarts necessary to see through deception, even when it might be staring us in the face.

If we don’t encounter deception every month or every week, then it might not even occur to us that someone is lying to us. We might simply be naïve.

That makes it so much more important to dedicate ourselves to the art of analysis, learning about body language or about various tricks that hucksters, politicians and even potential partners use to fool us, weaving a thicker and thicker web of lies.

In this episode, Kurt discusses some observations about deception, including how to see who is a shill, how to notice the subtler messages in propaganda, and the principle of “to the bitter end”. If we are discerning, we may well notice these things in ourselves, and open ourselves up to greater levels of truth.