Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M1558

Hide a Knife Behind a Smile

Hide a Knife Behind a Smile
DecideHigh supportGame Theory
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Make the enemy believe our attitude is friendly (smile), thereby lulling their vigilance, while secretly planning and preparing a lethal strike (knife). The core is to show goodwill to conceal intent.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Emotional disguise. In workplace games, when you decide to counterattack or change jobs, appear more cooperative and gentle than usual to lower the opponent's defenses and buy yourself preparation time (transferring materials, building alliances). Turning hostile is the last step, not the first.

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Anchor fast decisions

Hide a Knife Behind a Smile conceals true intent with a friendly facade, causing the opponent to let down their guard while secretly completing lethal preparations. It leverages 'emotional disguise' to gain strategic preparation time, with the core being the decoupling of intent and appearance.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%91%E8%A3%8F%E8%97%8F%E5%88%80ZH · Explicit
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