The Long Road

09/14/2003 Archived Entry: "Paranoia"

How do you know you can trust someone with secrets? I know that when I tell somebody something I always expect them to tell at least one other person, not because I don't trust them but because that's the nature of secrets. Anything that I don’t want “out there” I usually try to keep to myself…just in case.

One thing that I sometimes forget when telling someone something is where that person’s “loyalty” lies. We don’t even have to be talking about secrets here. If you say something to a friend about someone else, there’s no guarantee that your friend won’t turn around and tell that other person because they want that person to know what was said. Sometimes you tell someone something that you think should be kept hush hush but the recipient of your secret doesn’t necessarily think it’s a big deal and fails to keep it on the down low. Maybe you’re telling someone about your goals and how you plan to reach them but then they’re secretly after the same thing and they can now sabotage you somehow. And be careful with asking questions! If you ask A about B I’ll bet that B will know that you asked A those questions; it’s actually pretty easy to manipulate certain people like that. Just ask the right person the right questions.

Remember, information is power and you should be careful who you give power to. Whatever you say can and will be used against you eventually. Trust no one!

Replies: 5 comments

Got burned did we?

Posted by Hyperion @ 09/15/2003 01:08 PM EST

The information highway is also a dangerous place to hide secrets.

Posted by Dave @ 09/15/2003 02:45 PM EST

Something semi-recent was the catalyst for this entry but it wasn't all that bad.

I try to not keep too many secrets on the "information highway". Even here, I'm usually pretty vague.

Posted by Rayne @ 09/15/2003 03:51 PM EST

Another common thing that occurs is when someone takes your secret and adds some juice to it...just to make it sound better...it could get annoying, when the same person does it over and over and over...(it doesn't even have to be a secret)...

Posted by dAN @ 09/15/2003 08:47 PM EST

People seem to be attracted to secrets. I suppose it must be the mystery associated with the unknown. Perhaps they feel more important when they are told something private. I don't really know, I tend not to share much. So I have little experience there. My question is if secrets are such treasures, sharing them with others (provided they arent your own) is appealing enough to betray the teller?

Posted by Hyperion @ 09/16/2003 03:53 AM EST