In my previous post “Concealing your intentions using decoys”, I alluded to smoke screens also being a viable option to conceal your intentions. A smoke screen is a way to divert a person’s attention from your true intentions. A distinction between decoys and smoke screens in this sense is necessary. A decoy is using something to confuse the other person about your true intentions so that they cannot see them in the first place. On the other hand, a smoke screen is actually leading a person down the wrong path that is familiar to them and making them truly believe that your honest intentions are something different than what they actually are. “If you lead the sucker down a familiar path, he won’t catch on when you lead him into a trap”[1]
Joseph Weil
Our first example of using smoke screens to conceal your intentions and, therefore, adhering to Greene’s Third law of power, involves two main characters: a retired Chicago businessman, Sam Geezil, and none other than one of the best known American con men in the early 1900s, Joseph “Yellow Kid” Weil. Weil offers to buy one of Geezil’s apartment complexes for $8,000 in full which is quite a bit of money for back then(this is about $230,000 in terms of dollars in November 2021).
Since Weil is allegedly able to grant this sum at once, Geezil demands to know where he got all of the money. Weil then decides to tell Geezil about how he has been trusted by a group of wealthy financiers to sell one of their hunting lodges. Being so wealthy, the financiers would not notice if Weil were to sell the property for 20% of its real value. So, Weil was planning to sell this property to a set-up man(Geezil) for 20% of the actual market value, then they would turn around and sell it on the open market for full price and split the difference.
During the meeting with the owners of the lodge, Weil had brought one of the fighters that he apparently trained(who was obviously not a fighter). Ultimately, a bet was made between Weil and the owners of the lodge on whose fighter was better and they were to fight the next day. However, Weil didn’t have the money for the bet, so Geezil ended up putting his money for the lodge in as the bet. During the fight, Weil’s fighter took a blow to the head and was deemed dead by a “former doctor”, causing the millionaires to panic and Geezil fled immediately back to Chicago.
There was only one problem, Geezil left all of his money for the lodge. Leaving it to be split among Weil, the alleged financiers, and the alleged fighters, all of whom were actually con artists.
The Familiar front smoke screens
“The familiar front, inconspicuous front is the perfect smoke screen.”[2]
Being a retired businessman, Geezil was susceptible to a con that was disguised as a business deal. Weil simply took advantage of Geezil missing the game of business to draw him down a path that was familiar to Geezil. Geezil was so focused on the deal that he didn’t realize the “fighter” that Weil had brought was middle-aged, overweight, and out of shape. The smoke screen was so thick that Geezil didn’t even notice the fighter was obviously not who he was claimed to be. This being oblivious to his surroundings because he thought he was familiar with the situation led him to being tricked out of a large sum of money, worth over a million in today’s dollars.
Haile Selassie
Our next viewpoint of the Third law of power brings us to mid-1920s Ethiopia that was engrossed in war among rival war lords all trying to unify the country under their banner. Surprisingly, it was the young buck, Haile Selassie (aka Ras Tafari) who was outperforming all the rest of the war lords. Realizing the hold Tafari had on the nation, he would summon the rival war lords one at a time to come to him and declare their loyalty. One by one, they did so, until only one defied him, Dejazmach Balcha.
Balcha approached the capital with an army of 10,000 men in order to defend himself and camped outside the city. Tafari had to invite Balcha to a banquet in his honor to convince him to come inside the city. Balcha, believing the banquet was a trap, agreed as long as he could bring 600 men as personal guards, to which Tafari conveyed that he would be honored.
The Banquet
During the banquet, Balcha was treated very well, with only songs with a positive point of view of his tribe and he was treated with respect. This caused Balcha to believe that Tafari was afraid of him, and that Balcha was the one who actually had control over the event, and therefore, Balcha would easily be able to take the throne. It wasn’t until the banquet was over that Balcha understood how things actually were.
During the banquet, Tafari’s soldiers went to Balcha’s camp and bribed all of his soldiers as well has purchased all of their weapons with gold and cash. Completely disarmed besides having full pockets, the army turned on Balcha. When Balcha found out as he arrived back to his camp, he attempted to escape back through the city, only to find Tafari’s army blocking the way, completely surrounded by his former soldiers and his enemy, Balcha surrendered and entered a monastery to repent for his sins of ambition and pride.
Using Smoke Screens to deceive
Tafari was seen as a gentle and peace-loving leader, and this was seen as a weakness by some of the other warlords. However, always patient, he was able to lure his opposing warlords into a vulnerable position with his charm, leading to his rapid success. At the banquet, Tafari made Balcha feel protected and in control by allowing him to bring a substantial personal guard and giving him a sense of importance during the event. This was the smoke screen that hid Tafari’s true intentions, which were playing out miles away with the complete disbarment of Balcha’s entire army.
“The paranoid and wary are often the easiest to deceive.”[3] Balcha was extremely paranoid that the banquet was a trap, by playing into this, Tafari was able to use it as a smoke screen because Balcha hyper focused on it due to his paranoia.
“Do not underestimate the power of Tafari. He creeps like a mouse but has the jaws like a lion.”[4]
Balcha of Sidamo’s last words before entering the monastery.
Keys to power using smoke screens
Probably the biggest reason why using smoke screens to hide your true intentions is because people cannot truly focus on more than one thing at a time. Sure, you can multitask with passive things like breathing, eating, and walking at the same time, but you cannot focus on more than one active thing at a time.
When you see someone is leading you down a familiar path, like the Joseph Weil story above, you can only focus on what he is showing you and his narrative. Just like how Geezil didn’t realize the shape of the fighter and that he was being conned. Also, as with the Tafari story, Balcha was paranoid that the banquet was a trap, so he hyper focused on the banquet, Tafari’s narrative, and didn’t notice his army was being disarmed and bribed as he ate.
Above are just two examples. You can also set patterns and make noble gestures. Actually, making noble gestures can be one of the most effective smoke screens simply because people want to believe these gestures are genuine. It is just disheartening for someone to do such a gesture and find out that their true intentions are quite different than the gesture implied.
Setting patterns
Setting a pattern can be helpful in deceiving someone because people in general tend to make the mistake that reality is always as it appears. At least in general on a superficial basis. When you set a pattern, whether behavioral or otherwise, people would like to believe that pattern will continue, making it easier to hide your intentions by seemingly randomly breaking that pattern. Setting a pattern can also be taken as blending in with your environment where you, yourself, are an element in the pattern instead of you creating the pattern.
“Conceal your purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the victory before you declare the war.”[5]
-Ninon de Lenclos, 1623-1706
Concealing your cunning as you age
Now, setting smoke screens and using decoys is a powerful tool for deception. However, with age it will get harder for you to conceal your deceptions because people believe you will be wiser and more intelligent. It is difficult to hide your cunning when everyone assumes that you are cunning due to your old age. Life and experience are your enemy if you attempt to play dumb or ignorant.
When this is the case, sometimes it is better just to own up to your deceptions and cunning. For an example of this, look up P.T. Barnum. He deceived people so much that he became known for it. To the point that the tricks he pulled were so obviously fake that the people were amused rather than angry. He even eventually wrote about his deceptions in his autobiography.
Conclusions
Smoke screens are very effective in deceiving others. This post and the one linked below, explaining the using of decoys side of Greene’s third law of power, explain the advantages of concealing one’s intentions to deceive others. This isn’t necessarily so that you can now go conceal your intentions and deceive other people for your own gain, but hopefully, by gaining a deeper understanding of the concept, you can realize when someone is trying to deceive you in such ways.
Just to reiterate, the purpose of these posts is to give the argument of the author from their point of view and to invoke thought and discussion. This is in hopes to gain a deeper understanding and possibly even wisdom to improve our lives as much as we can.
To your wealth and future,
James Forsythe
For more of the Laws of Power and Personal Development
https://jamesdforsythe.com/category/personaldevelopment/
Amazon link to The 48 Laws of Power book by Robert Greene. Feel free to look deeper into it from here.
[1] Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power, pg. 23
[2] Ilbd. Pg. 25
[3] IIdb. Pg. 27
[4] Quoted from iibd. Pg. 27
[5] Quoted from Iibd. Pg. 29
