This law is about the power of information. Not just any information, but truths that people keep to themselves. Getting this information isn’t easy.
There are 3 ways. One is to pretend to be friends while actually getting close enough to know things only friends would. You must put up a sincere front so the other doesn’t see through the friendship. But if executed properly, you not only gain information but allies too. A French politician, Talleyard, practiced this. He had a gift of getting secrets out of people while looking sincere. Another is to get someone to spy for you. The best way is to get people who are already close to the person you are spying on and pay them to spy for you. This is a powerful method but can also backfire. The person you are paying to spy might reveal your spying or work against you. The Germans felt this reversal against the Nazis when the sent spies to England who were giving wrong information when the Nazis discovered them. The third is to test people to give away things about themselves. A Persian king, Chosroes II, told a subject a fake secret about another subject. If he saw that the other subject started acting differently, he would know that the secret was told. Then he would banish both subjects for disloyalty.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Are you a true friend or in some way a spy? Do you have true friends? How would you feel if you discovered you were being used for information?
If you were given the power to be invisible for a day, what would you use it for? Spying on your enemy? Friend? Crush/boyfriend/girlfriend? Family?
-Katrina L. Abello, HI18-O
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36 comments:
A true friend never double-crosses his/her friend. If I am being spied, I may reconsider on who to trust, because a "friend" maybe more to be an enemy. I'll use this spying techniques more to reveal what my enemies want to throw against me, and for a crush perhaps to know the person more, but I'll never spy on friends.
-Jedd Chua Hi 18-O
Have you ever heard of "frenemies"? I think this word could actually relate to this law. The word is based on the premise that your friend could be your worst enemy. Friends, moreso close friends, share a lot of secrets that could be used to anyone's advantage. Blackmailing is one of the tools for power, I believe. We could therefore say that secrets are fodder for power.
- Pauline Purugganan, Hi 18-N
In my opinion, people are too good/special to just milk secrets from. I think there is a more appropriate method to getting secrets and that is deleting the 'work as a spy part'. It's nice and it is more human to trust and befriend people, rather than use them.
-Miguel Rojas Hi18O
In this life, there are times when problems seem so hard, when we rely on sheer fate alone, to whom do we seek refuge to? Friends.
What's my point? Friends are too precious to lose even in exchange for power. To do such act as stated in this law would be inhumane and psychotic. But if you're too hungry for power, then do it. Let's see how far you'll reach till you rot in this world.
Dexter Tanengsy Hi-N
A friend is someone you can trust, and this law obviously goes against that. But yes, important things are shared between friends through mindless chatter and gossip. Penetrating their circle is the best way to get information.
Lexx Aquino
2 AB MA POS
HI18-O
As an answer to your first question, I would say that I am indeed a true friend. If ever I find out I was being used for information, I would certainly feel betrayed, because the trust I gave to that person proved to be unworthy after all. There was this girl, who I choose to be anonymous, who befriended me just so she could know information about my ex-boyfriend, who is now her boyfriend. I thought we were good friends back then, only to find out that she was only after the stuff about my ex-boyfriend.
Janine Cindy M. Santiago
Hi18-N
For your second question, if given the power, I would use it on my family, especially on my dad. There are speculations that my dad has affairs with another woman, which I don’t believe to be true, because I do not see that in my dad. He is always with us whenever we go out. So to be sure about the rumor, I will follow him around.
Janine Cindy M. Santiago
Hi18-N
Why we need to spy or get information about other people makes us feel superior, that's why it's power. But friendship, as said by Socrates, is the only type of citizenship which would make us all feel equal. How then could we feel equal without actually consoling ourselves through spying, or information gathering? That wouldn't be called friendship, now would it? The context of "friend" or "friendship" should be tackled by this law.
-Jam Yusun, Hi18-O
Personally, I don't think I can handle faking sincerity just to get closer to a person. I just wasn't raised that way. I believe that there is no good in faking sincerities or niceties just to get secrets from someone. Friends are supposed to be people you can trust and rely on. If everyone lived out such a concept, everybody would have to look over their shoulder and be wary of all people who came their way. What is the point of living in a world without truth and trust?
As for spying, I guess you could do it if you were working for the government or if finding out such truths from your opponent was crucial for the security of your life or for the lives of those around you. This "snooping around" should never be applied to the personal lives of others, though. Such things are kept from us for certain reasons, and they should be kept that way. Whatever it is, it'll come out on it's own anyway, because all truths are revealed eventually.
Dyan Garcia, II AB MEC, Hi18 O
Throughout history, information has always been the key, and this law shows how people have resorted to even the riskiest of techniques just to work it to their advantage. By posing as a friend and working as a spy, it aids to know how to soften one's rival up (Law 43), to obscure one’s motives, or, since being a spy requires flexibility, to know how to be “all things to all men” (Law 25). However, what this law does not tackle is the question of ethics and I presume that this is because the matter of what is good and bad should be left to the discretion of the user of the technique him/herself.
As a response to your question, I would use invisibility to become a superhero for one day as I’ve always dreamed of helping people in an extremely extraordinary way. During my days as a human however, I wouldn’t spy on my friends/rivals even if I had the slightest chance. Power to me is acknowledging and preferring the “lame” and “boring” choice of being the better man.
Marcy Leonora Pilar
II - AB MEC
well the idea of spying here can be used to determine the good / bad traits of our friends and enemies. By being a spy, it can work two ways: first the positive way - spying can make you know more about your friends; the second is the negative way - spying can be use to determine the appropriate plan for exploiting an enemy
In both instances this law can be used for both good and bad purposes.
Duey T. Guison
II AB PoS
Morality aside, Friendship involve politics as said in the Nicomachean ethics. When Politics is present, conflict is inevitable. So if conflict takes place in politics, it also takes place in friendship.
To gain upper hand while the friction is still in the 'Rubbing Process' it is imperative that one must gain information about ones friend thus apparently making oneself a spy. So I believe that it is natural to be a spy if you are a friend. In the exchange of info in the statee of friendship one is already spying in the form of an undercover.
A friend is not necessarily a hero but a villain at the same time. Friendship is a mean between the excess in the form of an Enemy and the deficiency in the form of a stranger. Since it is a mean it does not only in have pleasantness as nature but also pain as well.
I know what it's like to be "used for information", and to think there are people who would go through all the trouble to gain your trust only to find out it was all for nothing. Trust is one of the foundations of true friendship. You'd only be building lies without that foundation, and I think that's just sad and outright heartless.
-Bianca Michaela Bes, Hi 18-O
I agree that true friends should not be "used" to obtain information for a personal gain. But if were to talk about someone whose main objective is to gain endless power, then this law is something that he wouldn't hesitate to perform. Why? Friends can get you in trouble. Though you can use them/their resources for your own advantage there's this thing as a "give and take relationship" for friends. Meaning, once you are in power, you can't enjoy your position because you are obliged (as a friend) to give back to those who helped you. Look at Marcos and his cronies or Erap and his buddies. His friends helped put him in power, but they also caused his downfall.
Lexx Aquino
2 AB-MA POS
HI18-O
I am a true friend first and foremost. Being invisible is cool, but i cannot see myself being a spy.
yes, i agree with jedd, true friends never double cross one another. Double identity is often times used by a person to get what he/she wants, absolute power and most of all, possesion of valuable information about you that can be used against you.
I can truly admit, friends come and go, i wont judge someone who blackmailed me, thank you for using me if ever..that "friend" does not deserve my attention.
-Luigi Ramirez Hi18-O
thinking practically, I am very humored by the idea of spying on your enemies. Though it may be not the most chivalrous of ways, it could be the most logical thing to do. A person armed with the knowledge of his enemies weaknesses is a powerful person indeed. Knowledge is power, they say.
Alexius Tejedor
IIBSMIS
Again, as most comments would say, spying on a friend is a traitor's act. For me, you can only use spying to subdue an enemy, not to cause trouble to your friend.
Its funny because I don't think that the law literally means that you should spy on your friends. I believe that what the law states is that in order to gain advantage from you enemies, pose as their friend and then spy on them. I just had to clarify this because its getting a bit confusing that even I got kind of mixed up as well.
Alexius John Tejedor
II BS MIS
Winning power through spying? Oh come on! Living in a Catholic country and being molded in a school for others, I definitely do not agree with such law. It is simply because “spying” is just a lovely way of cheating. It is like you befriending the smartest in the class (posing as a friend), getting the information you need (working as a spy) to pass the course (to grasp power).
Well, if I am then given the chance to be invisible. I’ll be a spy?? I’ll take the opportunity ONCE. I would want to get information from Robert Greene himself… to know his true aim in writing these 48 laws of power. I don’t know why. Perhaps, I am just curious. What I am only sure of is that it would not be for mere power.
: Joanne Atienza N
I think most of us have built our arguments around an overly-romanticized idea of friendship. To add to that, it seems that we all share the concept of spying as double-crossing, using or backstabbing: in short, all black-wearing, wire-tapping, elaborate spy gadget-using men and women.
On the contrary, if you think of it as knowing something about that person that not many people know, that's power in itself. When your friend tells you a secret, whether or not you are just pretending to be a friend, you are already wielding power. You have the power to be the person she tells her secrets to, the power to be the person she depends on.
Each and everyone of us has observed this law, even if we're not aware of it totally. So chastising yourself may not be to your [albeit religious] advantage after all.
Pia Angela J. Maske
II AB-MA Political Science
Hi 18, Section O
funny how in other posts (which all are obviously about attaining power) there is a healthy dialogue in the comments about the law itself, but in this law, whereupon the sensitive topic of friendship is brought up, and how it should be used as a tool for power, people just condemn the law altogether. hehe
i dont think the law should be taken at face value.
there is a deeper meaning to it than just double crossing and such. if everyone followed this law faithfully what a plastic world we'd live in ey?
I agree with the others that being "user-friendly" is way too dirty although it can be a very powerful and advantageous tool. But when it backfires against you, your most trusted friend will more often than not become your worst enemies.
Lying about things is another tactic to get people to open up their secrets to you. It is an easier thing to do than befriending and using other people but if they find out the truth, you lose their trust. In my opinion, this tactic is easier to execute on people who you don't know very well.
Sorry forgot to put my name in the previous post.
Alfonso S. Laviña
II AB MEC
HI 18 Section O
Yes, this law seems to have strayed from the law of power to the ethics of friendship.
Katrina says, "This law is about the power of information. Not just any information, but truths that people keep to themselves. Getting this information isn’t easy."
When it comes to global matters, we're all okay with the existence of spies. And c'mon, who hasn't wanted to be a spy at some point (it's up there with being a assassin and kung fu master). We'd have no problem posing as the friend of someone like Hitler if it meant bringing him down, right?
But friendship is a sensitive matter. Well what would you do if you heard from someone that a close friend of yours was talking smack about you? What if you heard it from another close friend? You approach him/her about it (as a close friend would) and they deny it. Then another close friend confirms that yes that person did say those things about you. Wouldn't you consider getting someone to help you get to the truth?
To make the right decisions, you need to know all the necessary information about the issue. To get all of these information, one may resort to openly searching for the information, or secretly obtaining the information (ethical or not).
Personally, I don't think searching for information secretly is wrong. I am not decided as to whether or not I agree to this law, but I think it all depends on your motives, and how you use the information afterwards.
Eric Andres
HI 18 Section N
It really depends on the motives like Eric said. I'm assigned with the same law and this power is very dangerous to play with
-Don Faylon
Hi18N
So much about friendship and the virtue of being a good friend has been mentioned, but we have to keep in mind that friendship, as Aristotle puts it, trascends any kind of power play, including justice.
Pia Angela J. Maske
II AB-MA Political Science
Hi 18, Section O
Law 33: Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew
This law reminds me of a famous saying: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
How do you keep your enemies close? Just as the law states, pose as their friend.
In it's true meaning and essence however, I don't agree with this law. As others have previously mentioned, it touches too much on the topic of friendship and being a true friend. I of course believe in being a sincere friend. If you're simply using someone to get something, that person will eventually find out. There's an obvious difference between friends and users. You can try to seem real as long as you can, but eventually, the truth will come out-- you WILL be exposed for the fake that you are.
If this rule is to be followed, I would also definitely agree with law # 2—you should never put too much trust on friends.
Becoming a spy?-- sweet
Coming to think of it, the posing and the spying are realities of life. I mean, it really do happen. Well, what better way of spying can you think of than to spy from the inside? Definitely we’ll have better chances of winning for we’ll gain the most accurate information of your enemies’ weaknesses, right?
Just remember that one must be extra cautious in doing the spy work. What if people began to suspect that we’re spying on them? Surely, they will avoid us and who knows, they may also be plotting some secret revenge on us. Be good at it. Don’t let them catch you. wink
Katherine Conde
Hi18 O
Yes, it’s true that information is power. I’ve seen a lot of instances in movies that show how one can use valuable information against one’s enemies, to the point where they use it to blackmail or bribe other people.
But as so many people have already mentioned in regard to friendship, I definitely don’t believe in pretending to be someone’s friend just to spy on them and get valuable information that I can later use against them. If one exactly does that, then he or she doesn’t truly know what the word, FRIEND is, and to be a true one for that matter.
Kira Gochuico
HI 18 N
Please comment on: LAW 17
Also, one who does this will not only hurt the other party but he himself/her herself. What else is gained besides power? The answer is one’s image of deceptiveness and untrustworthiness, loneliness, and especially the loss of a friend, and possibly of other friends too.
It’s really low for anyone to exchange friendship just to get power.
Kira Gochuico
HI 18 N
I don’t think this law says to actually betray your true friends, it just says to befriend people who you want to defeat. As sinister as this law is, you have to admit that it’s pretty effective. Knowing your enemy is prerequisite to winning.
Patrick Reyes Hi18O
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