Two families of tactics for keeping people from reading your purpose.
Robert Greene's framework, from 48 Laws of Power, pp. 44 to 64.
Use decoyed objects of desire and red herrings
Dangle a goal you seem to want, or back a cause you secretly oppose, so people stop looking at the real one.
Use false sincerity
Publicly value honesty and share a meaningless confidence so your words carry weight.
Use smoke screens
Give a bland, familiar front such as an ordinary business deal, a noble gesture or a repeated pattern, so the real action goes unnoticed.
Blend in
Look like you belong to the group so suspicion never starts.
From chapter: LAW 3, pp. 44–64
Hide your real purpose so nobody can prepare a defence. Greene gives two techniques. The first is the decoy or red herring: talk endlessly about desires that are not your real ones, back a cause you secretly oppose, and use false sincerity, as Bismarck did in his 1850 speech. The second is the smoke screen: a bland, familiar front such as the Yellow Kid's business deal, Selassie's humility or an unreadable face, which lets you move unseen. The reversal is that once you have a reputation for deception, you do better to own it as an honest rogue, like Barnum.
