The Law of Role-playing
People present a version of themselves designed to be accepted. They perform competence, innocence, toughness, warmth—whatever the moment rewards. Often they believe the performance, which makes it even harder to detect.
What reveals the mask is not a single act, but patterns: contradictions, exaggerated displays, emotional leaks, the small slips that appear when someone is tired, threatened, or too comfortable. Pay attention to what doesn’t fit the story.
You are not looking to become paranoid. You are looking to become accurate. The ability to read the gap between appearance and motive protects you from charm, from false certainty, and from the long slow damage of trusting the wrong face.