Monday, May 21, 2012

Secrets

A secret is an object whose contents are under pressure, like carbonated liquid in a sealed container. The greater the pressure applied from one direction -- by, for example, strictly limiting the number of people who can be told or by heightening the sanctions for disclosure -- the more violent the inevitable eruption in another direction is liable to be.

A really juicy secret -- the kind that could land someone in federal prison or destroy a marriage or sink a business -- will practically be forced by the pressure of the situation into the minds of many people unknown to the secret's subject.

That's just basic physics.

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