“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
Have you ever noticed that the word lie is in the middle of the word belief — be-lie-f?
The most effective deceptions are often buried within strongly held beliefs, frequently with a bit of truth mixed into the deception for good measure. This is what makes the deception so effective.
If you are a belief voyager, then analyzing and isolating a lie in a belief becomes an essential component of your belief journey. This undertaking is often the work of an individual in the Crossroads, who discovers that the external belief system they once embraced no longer aligns with their reality and then begins to detect any deception embedded in the external beliefs.
Take, for instance, the realm of social media, a powerful platform for connection and sharing. Yet, it's equally a fertile ground for the proliferation of deception. When using social media, it becomes crucial to hone the skill of discerning deceptive misinformation and arriving at our own conclusions.
In the quest for clarity about what we believe and why, be aware of the ‘5 Ds of Deception’.
Distract
Deflect
Dissemble
Discredit
Denial
These 5 Ds may be used by an external belief system, such as an organization or government, to avoid questions and persuade, or deceive, believers in order to keep them believing the external system.
Stay vigilant on your belief journey. Your capacity to navigate these deceptive tactics may just be the key to unlocking a truer, more authentic understanding of your beliefs and the world around you.
Distract
When external belief systems start to be questioned by individuals, the external source may distract so it’s not so obvious that the external belief system is not working out so well or there are contradictions in the external belief system.
A basic example that most are familiar with is that of a parent and child. The parent is the external source of beliefs to the child. The parent tells the child to never tell a lie, emphasizes the importance of in honesty in all things, that the child must always tell the truth. Then the child observes the parent not telling the truth and questions the parent about it. The parent may say something like, ‘That’s different.’ and then add ‘Why don’t we go get some ice cream?’
This distraction is intended to distract the child’s attention from asking any more questions or thinking about the parent’s lie. The parent knows they have been caught out, but hopes the ice cream will keep the child from pursuing it and maybe forget all about it. Smart children make a mental note of this discrepancy though and the cognitive dissonance it creates. By distracting the child, the parent has now relegated the child to pondering this discrepancy alone.
Another example is when governmental policies are failing and the citizens are demanding answers and assistance, the governmental gives a certain group of people a tax credit to reduce their taxes. The government may be hoping that the citizens then forget about the failed policies that may be adversely affecting their lives.
Upon reflection, can you think of a situation where you or someone you observed were successfully distracted from uncovering flaws in an external belief system? Can you think of a situation where someone or an organization attempted to distract you, but you kept your attention on the key issue(s) instead of becoming distracted?
Deflect
This brings us to our next D: Deflect. When an external belief system is questioned, the external source, in an effort to protect itself, may deflect questions. For example, if we return to the parent - child example, when the child asks the parent why they told a lie when the parent always tells the child to be honest and never lie, the parent might deflect by saying something along the lines of: ‘Have you cleaned your room yet?’
Notice that cleaning up the room has nothing to do with the question the child raised. But if the child then is forced to defend themselves, they may forget all about their original question about the parent telling a lie.
Another example might be one partner who is attempting to have a discussion to resolve who is responsible for which household duties, such as who is responsible for laundry duty, and when the issue is raised the other partner begins complaining about how the first partner works too many hours and doesn’t spend enough time at home. The first partner may begin defending themselves, not realizing this Deflection tactic was intended to accomplish just that. Soon the first partner no longer remembers the household and laundry duties and the second partner revels in the Deflection success.
Upon reflection, can you think of a situation where you have been a target for the deflection tactic? How did you respond? Was the deflection tactic successful?
Can you recall a situation where you employed the Deflection tactic with success?
Dissemble
Dissemble means to conceal one's true thoughts, feelings, intentions, or identity by presenting a false appearance or pretending to be something one is not. It often involves hiding one's true emotions, motives, or beliefs behind a facade or deceptive behavior. Dissembling is a form of deceit or dishonesty, as it involves deliberately misleading or misleading others by feigning or pretending.
An example would be an individual who appears to be a kind-hearted, loving grandfather. But this was a facade so that people would trust him. Instead, he is a vindictive, narcissist who cares primarily about himself. But the facade permits him to manipulate people into doing what he wants. Also, people would never believe his wrongdoings should they come to light because he appears so genial and upstanding.
Another example is an abusive, sadistic parent who is the faithful church goer who never misses a church service and sits in the front seat to make sure that everyone sees them in church. Sitting in the back pew would never do because others might not notice them there.
A stellar real-life example of dissembling by a country occurred in 1939. Germany invaded Poland from the west. Three weeks later, Russia invaded Poland from the East to ‘save it from Germany’. Subsequently, it was discovered that Russia had a secret agreement with Germany that Russia would invade Poland after Germany did, and those two countries planned to divvy up Poland between them. By dissembling, Russia painted itself with an honorable motive to assist Poland, when in fact, it had other intentions.
Effective dissemblers often incorporate a kernel of truth into their presentations. This strategy relies on the psychological tendency for individuals, upon recognizing a known fact, to assume the validity of the remaining information. For instance, if 10% of a statement is known to be true, the presumption often arises that the remaining 90% must also be accurate.
However, dissemblers strategically insert their deception and misleading details into this remaining 90%. Consider the example of labeling a veteran who fought in a war as a hero. While it is true that the veteran participated in a war, the question arises: does this automatically qualify them as a hero? What if the veteran was on the side responsible for atrocities such as genocide?
Knowing about dissembling underscores the importance of avoiding the assumption that everything presented is true when only a fragment is based on reality.
One victim of a dissembler summed it up well: ‘I’ve been snuckered.’
Upon reflection, can you recall a situation where you realized that someone was dissembling? How did you respond?
Discredit
This is a tricky one whether you are the observer or the recipient. Often when an organization, government, or individual has committed some wrongdoing and been found out, the first step is to try to discredit the source who has witnessed the wrongdoing. For example, if an individual has discovered a massive fraud at their employer, the individual then reports it to the appropriate authority, who may also be involved. Then the organization will try to discredit the employee who reported the fraud. Because if the employee is discredited, no one will believe them.
Here is a true story with names changed to protect the guilty. A new accountant, Suzy, was hired with no explanation as to what happened to the prior accountant, Jack. After a few months, Suzy realized that fraud was occurring, money was missing. Suzy reported it to her boss per standard operating procedures. The next morning, Suzy was called in with complaints about her work. This was quite interesting because there had not been any complaints prior. The complaints continued with references to either Suzy being incompetent or perhaps she had taken the funds herself and reported it only to deflect attention onto someone else.
As you can imagine Suzy became quite nervous. It occurred to her to look into why the prior accountant, Jack, had left. To Suzy’s surprise, Jack had also reported missing funds. Even more shocking, Jack had not only been fired but was being prosecuted for theft of the funds. So if it was Jack, the prior accountant, who had taken the missing funds, then how could Jack take funds that were missing now, when he no longer have access to the company? Suzy became even more anxious because if she came forward with reports of missing funds now, then the embezzler’s attempts to discredit the prior accountant, Jack, would fall apart. This presented a huge risk to the actual embezzler and so put Suzy at even greater risk.
Realizing these were clear attempts to discredit both accountants Suzy and Jack, Suzy promptly started a successful job search, turned in her 2-week notice, and never looked back.
Upon reflection, can you recall a situation where you or someone else was the target for being discredited? How did the situation unfold? What was the final result? Was the discredit campaign successful?
Denial
When an external belief system is being challenged by those who have found the external beliefs are not fitting the reality they are experiencing, denial is one of the 5 Ds that the external belief system may employ.
There is a true art to the use of denial however. Sometimes the denial is combined with distracting, deflecting, dissembling, and/or discrediting. For example, a spouse who is being unfaithful when challenged by someone by respond: Of course, I would never have an affair. How could you suggest something like that? I love my family too much to risk it having an affair. Have you lost your mind? It’s my spouse who is probably having an affair with all the late night meetings and work trips. It’s my spouse who doesn’t care about our family.
Discernment: Your Superpower
Knowledge is power. Knowing about the 5 Ds of Deception gives you power to identify when any of the 5 Ds are being used on you to dissuade you from questioning external beliefs and pursuing your own internal belief system.
Your superpower is to analyze and identify the Lie in Belief. The final D, Discernment, is your kryptonite to the 5 Ds of Deception. Your superpower is Discernment. If we strive to have authentic self-authored beliefs, we must be vigilant to discern and identify any deception in the midst of our beliefs.
Discernment is your protection against the 5 Ds of Deception: Distract, Deflect, Dissemble, Discredit and Denial. Your challenge is to discern when the 5 Ds are being used. By being able to discern this can affect whether you rely on an external belief system and buy into it wholesale. Or step back and begin to ask some challenging questions, and decide to rely on your own internal beliefs.
Discerning deceit can be raised to an art form. Discerning the truth on social media can be especially challenging. Shows like TVP World's Break the Fake demonstrate this art, involving tasks, such as geolocating images or videos to verify their origins and scrutinizing news headlines, to distinguish between fact and deception.
The more you know about the 5 Ds of Deception, the better you will be able to use your superpower, Discernment.
Reflection
Reflecting on past experiences, identify 5 Ds that you have experienced, witnessed happen to someone else, or learned about through social media or the news.
Distract
Deflect
Dissemble
Discredit
Denial
Journal about each of the 5 Ds and how it impacted you and your beliefs.
Journal about how you have used discernment in the past and present to neutralize the 5 Ds. How do you see yourself using discernment in the future?
An interesting read is George Orwell’s novel, 1984. It contains classic examples of how the 5 Ds can be used to shape a society and culture. Can you identify the 5 Ds in 1984? What is the outcome for Orwellian characters who begin to use Discernment?