In the world of espionage, the thriller writers have us believe, you cannot trust anyone. Having written a book about the genetics and habits of lying I am likely to be one to say that is probably true of every profession. When asked how many witnesses told lies in the legal cases a Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain said ‘all of them.’ Every soldier knows how to ambush, every business person knows how to conceal levels of profit, every lover knows how to play the field.
It would seem from this that probably most of the world is given to spying in one way or another. The techniques used to prise secrets out of nations are not all that different from gossiping villagers getting near the truth without ever knowing all the facts. Observation after all, is a skill.
And in this world where are all capable of spying, or knowing things we never conceptualise until there is a crisis and we are called upon to remember isolated facts that help us get through from half remembered chemistry practicals to unfamiliar faces, we are all capable of great things.
Spying teaches us that nations think life itself is an emergency needing prowess and vigilance to survive for even the short while we are alive. They may be right.