Secrets

Dear Educators,

Next month’s return of everybody’s favorite secret agent, James Bond, in his 25th film, “No Time to Die,” has us thinking about the sneaky world of secrets!
As humans, our ability to create and share fictional narratives has had an interesting impact on our history and our society. Outside of espionage, dishonesty is not viewed as noble, even when we have good intentions. Truth, honesty, and integrity are important cultural values. We perceive dishonesty as weak or pathetic. When you aren’t strong, brave, or clever enough to work within the bounds of reality, one option left to you is to make up a new reality that works better for you.
We hope these resources about sneakiness, secrets, and secret agents spark some interesting conversations with your students about the truth, honesty, and secrets!

A spy has to be good at keeping secrets and fabricating reality in a way that is convincing, while at the same time keeping their cool. “Cool” being the key word when we look at 007 himself! Conjured up by Ian Fleming in 1953, James Bond has entertained our society for decades through books and movies that show how he uses his particular set of skills (and gadgets!) to save the world!
This article tells the story of Ian Fleming and how he created the thrilling world of Bond…James Bond.

How do we lie? What does it take physically and mentally? How and when do we justify dishonesty over truth? How do we weigh the risk to our character, our livelihood, and morality, in order to lie? Is someone lying because they find it morally acceptable, or because they are too anxious to face the truth? How should you deal with a liar? What is an ethical lie? How do you deal with someone who has attempted to deceive you?

These questions and more are answered by this fascinating article, “How and Why We Lie at Work” from the Harvard Business Review. How do you see this play out with your colleagues? With your students?