Steven Pinker

And what that does is it allows you to save face.

So saving face, by the way, another great – going back to the idea, how could – if common knowledge is so important, as I say it is, and it requires I know that she knows, which makes your head hurt, how could it work so well?

And one of the reasons is that we talk about it not using the language of –

philosophy or game theory, but metaphors of something being visible out in the open.

That's why we use expressions like in the closet or saving face.

Face is the part of you that other people see and that you use to see other people.

So saving face or losing face is a great metaphor.

Face and facade are related.

I guess so.

That would have damaged his character.

Yeah, that would have damaged the character.

That would have been a perfect example.

It's transactional.

Well, the thing is that it's in fact transactional, but it's very dangerous to suggest to a cop that you have a transaction.

In fact, it's illegal.

So he just makes it visible.

That's all it is.

It's somewhere in here.

And so it's not plausibly deniable, but it's deniable that the other person knows that you know or knows that you know that he knows that you know.

And that's what flips it from deference and respect and authority to transactional.