Shhhhhh... Considering Secrets

As entertaining as the show is, I am not terribly interested in the Wikileaks diplomatic libretto. It seems to be little more than unneeded details in an obvious story line (a rough equivalent would be watching the "deleted scenes" from a cinematic tale of romance, starring Matthew McConaughey : No thanks, I'm pretty sure I have it all figured out).

But I am interested in secrets (considering the difference between keeping a secret and telling a lie is great fun). As for the functions of the secret: to hide and exclude. So, I'll ask: Why hide? Why exclude?

The hiding of information seems to stem from a simple motivation: avoidance of ostensibly unsavory consequences. Why else would you hide? I can't think of anything.

Excluding others from information, keeping certain things secret from certain people, is just a specific form of hiding. Primarily, we exclude when we fear the consequences of inclusion. So, I stumble into a sensuous bar, I enjoy it — I don't want it to be any different. The next day, when someone at work, or wherever, asks me what I did last night, do I say, "went to this fantastic bar, it was great, just what I wanted, you should check it out"?

I might. But I almost might not. I might choose to exclude. Because to include something new would be to invite change. And I fear the change — the potential for loss — far more than I welcome the unknown.

Now, this secrecy is all slightly hegemonic, dominant. To keep a secret is to make an assumption — you have to expect a consequence in order to believe secrecy is the way to go (and our expectations are, to make another obvious observation, varied). So remember, a secret is quite calculated — even when it stems from an impulse (what is an impulse other than an extremely fast calculation?) — and the formula is simple. It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh... You know what I'm trying to say.