PSFK Interview: David Art Wales on Secret Societies

David Art Wales shared his insights on the power of secrets and clandestine societies at Interesting NYC – a topic he’s become quite an expert in since spearheading the Prudent Boozer movement and exploring the uber-hush hush world of the Freemasons. We asked David if he could share a little bit more about his thoughts on what makes secrecy so sublime, and he was kind enough to divulge. A little.

At Interesting NY, you spoke about “Secret Societies and the Twilight of Hidden Knowledge.” What’s so special about secrecy?

We all love secrets. They’re so precious and fragile, and they can’t be un-revealed once the cat is out of the bag. We use secrets all the time without even realizing – to bring others closer or keep them at bay, to help us create trust and intimacy. Every romantic relationship begins with a gradual unfolding of secrets. It’s ritualistic. That secrets are everywhere in popular culture shows how tantalizing they are: secret agents, weapons, identities, recipes, the seven secrets of success… the list goes on.

The internet’s created two industries, one madly uncovering secrets and another frantically creating new ones. Look at the glut of secret bars and speakeasies in New York, and the corresponding army of websites like UrbanDaddy competing to reveal them. A good secret’s usually born out of a sincere attempt to make something others will want to protect and cherish. It becomes a conspiracy of inductees.

Add the word “secret” to anything and suddenly it’s sexier, assuming it’s true. It’s the greatest value-add there is. But secrecy’s about restraint, which is antithetical to conventional marketing. Creating and selling a secret requires counterintuitive thinking and being willing to take a risk. And it can backfire: We’re working pro-bono to revive Prudent Boozers, a moderate drinking movement that became a secret society during Prohibition and consequently bit the dust. Some companies do understand the value of hidden knowledge, though. Apple uses secrecy around their R&D the way KFC and Coke always did with their secret recipes. It’s a time-worn ploy but we eat it up. By the way, Victoria’s Secret is that there is none.

A good secret is always just out of reach.

You mentioned that you’re joining one of the most well-known secret societies in the world, The Masons. What can modern organizations/businesses learn from legendary secret societies like The Masons?

A lot, I would think. The Masons is less a secret society than a “society with secrets” – unlike Skull & Bones, for example – so it’s not unlike companies that ask employees to sign NDAs. But most companies don’t get the importance of ritual and a sense of belonging. They enforce secrecy only to protect themselves, rather than to create a hidden world and make their employees feel like members. If a corporation understood this, I guarantee you’d see a spike in company morale.

The Prime Minister of Ministry of Culture will be telling some more secrets at Click Conference on October 1st. Remember to sit up front though – he’ll probably be whispering…

Thanks, David!

Ministry of Culture