OBSTRUCTING THE DECEPTION IN HUMINT – THE OBSERVER’S ROLE IN CONVERSATION
OBSTRUCTING THE DECEPTION IN HUMINT – THE OBSERVER’S ROLE IN CONVERSATION

Summary/Abstract: Everybody lies, but the reason differs from person to person, and from context to context. We daily deal with our lies and others’ lies but when you must face the enemy’s lies in a military operational environment, this becomes a life-and-death problem. In HUMINT domain, the enemy’s lie appears within conversation therefore generating a big paradox because the very same conversation concomitantly constitutes the weapon of choice. To identify lies and obstruct deception, HUMINT uses an observer – human being. The dynamics of conversation when somebody plays the role of observer has its particularities psychologically analyzed within this article. Besides the HUMINT related insights, the article’s underpinning idea is to provide an explanation why we all, no matter the environment, civilian or military, are more cautious with our words when we talk with two persons than with only one.

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