Interpersonal Deception Theory And Matrix Film Analysis

The tradition that the theory stems from is the socio-psychological tradition ( Burgoon, Buller, White, Afifi, Buslig, 1999). The article continues to make very direct approaches to show how it is linked in this tradition. This theory is very blunt and to the point. It shows us that the practice of being truthful in our speech and every day lives is a rarity (Burgoon et al. 1999). I will be over viewing uncertainty and vagueness, withdrawal, disassociation, and relationship-protecting behaviors throughout the paper. Searching though the theory and applying it to everyday life, there are ways to find out when a person is not telling the truth. Though it may prove difficult most people need to know when they are being lied to.

Being a good deceptive sender was the only way Cypher could continue to convince the group he was on their side. In the quick conversation he had with Neo he never out and out states he doesn’t like where he is. He hints at it and still nicely dodges direct points. Doing this never creates doubt in Neo’s mind. As the receiver he had no expectation that he would be mislead or deceived by a member of his own team who had far more superiority than him. Cypher using very good ambiguity in his dialogue gives him a lot of leeway to show he is still a strong member of the team (Burgoon, Buller, Guerro, Afifi, Feldman, 1996).

The nonverbal actions of the deceptive sender are not an inherent part of these key concepts. This is when the most leakage occurs. Leakage is the nonverbal cue the sender gives off when he is expressing his verbal deception. The verbal communication is what is heavily relied upon to convey the believable message. But I truly think that you can watch the nonverbal actions to depict if a person is attempting to be deceptive or not. You can tell from the avoidance of eye contact, the way a person can pace or swivel, any number of body motions or gestures can give away the fact that they are no longer being truthful. And often the worst problem with deceivers is that they are in your own midst and you have already given them your trust. This same thing happens in “The Matrix,” (1999) with the character Cypher betraying the group of world saving heroes.

Using different constructed ways of communications is a key focus of the deceptive sender. “Some forms, such as hedges, may satisfy syntactic directness but not semantic relevance in that the utterance form is an appropriate sequel to the preceding one but the essential content is missing” (Burgoon, Buller, Guerro, Afifi, Feldman, 1996, p. 54). As the sender’s speech continues it will need to make sense without having to be directly related to previous statements. This causes separation of the sender and receiver. This also stops the receiver’s end from knowing anything more about previous topics. By leading onto new topics the sender avoids anything that was said in the past.

In a later scene when they discover they are in a trap, Cypher stills continues the act. He exclaims how they are trapped and it is useless to get out. This is a very natural thing to say when hope has suddenly been lost. It seems like he is just trying to increase the dire momentum of the situation but still be a team player. It is an act of self protection that he says these things. If he had directly said, “let’s go surrender to them right now we have no other choice,” then he would have given away much more of himself. Seiter, Brushke, Bai (2002) give us many reasons for deceptive behavior, and self protection is one of them. He still maintains the team atmosphere while he gains face.

Immediately after the explanation of the computer system Cypher tells Neo that he knows exactly what he is thinking, “Why oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?” This question creates some awkwardness as to what he truly means. Does it mean that he really has no desire to try to save the world or that he was just joking around because the situation is so confusing? These are the questions posed to Neo. So it leaves a lot to be pondered and gets Cypher free from having to answer.

Some topics in this essay:
Afifi Feldman, Brushke Bai, Uncertainty Vagueness, Afifi Buslig, IDT Basically, Neo Cypher, Behaviors Cypher’s, Finally Lippard, IDT Withdrawal, Vicious Lies, buller guerro, uncertainty vagueness, guerro afifi, afifi feldman, deceptive sender, feldman 1996, buller guerro afifi, guerro afifi feldman, afifi feldman 1996, burgoon buller, burgoon buller guerro, relationship protecting, relationship protecting behaviors, interpersonal deception, sender receiver,