Speaker 1: Welcome to Spycraft, a podcast that tells gripping life and
Speaker 1: death spy stories and the amazing devices and operations. Let's
Speaker 1: get started.
Speaker 2: I need a book Dog Psychology by doctor Carlos Basquez.
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Speaker 2: kindle or paperback on Amazon. I'm gonna actually be looking
Speaker 2: at a movie that was recommended to me by a
Speaker 2: CIA operative called My Octopus Teacher.
Speaker 3: It chronicles the story of Craig Foster's year long bond
Speaker 3: with a wild octopus. So what does this have anything
Speaker 3: to do with the CIA or even Special Forces. Well,
Speaker 3: you'd be surprised. The first thing we'll learn from the
Speaker 3: film is that Foster meticulously observes the octopus's behavior environment
Speaker 3: and survival strategies over months, gaining a deep understanding of
Speaker 3: its world without interfering. For CIA operatives, they rely on
Speaker 3: human human intelligence and open source intelligence, which demand acute
Speaker 3: observation of people, cultures, and environments. Remember, my job as
Speaker 3: a psychologist is to understand how our brain operates. We
Speaker 3: continue on with the story, So how's it relevant to
Speaker 3: a seal or a Green Beret? Well, special Forces operators
Speaker 3: conduct recon andrect and direct action missions. We're noticing minute
Speaker 3: details such as enemy movements or terrain changes can mean
Speaker 3: the difference between success and failure. Green Berets in particular,
Speaker 3: use observation to understand tribal dynamics during unconventional warfare. Both
Speaker 3: roles benefit from a discipline prolonged observation to build a
Speaker 3: comprehensive picture of their operational environment. Another lesson is adaptivity, adaptability,
Speaker 3: and creative problem solving. So adaptability and creative problem solving
Speaker 3: in our world, we call it cognitive flexibility, and this
Speaker 3: is something this is something I've noticed a lot in
Speaker 3: CIA operatives as well as recruiters as well as special forces.
Speaker 3: The octopus adapts to threats using camouflage tool use such
Speaker 3: as shells for armor and innovative tactics to outsmart predators
Speaker 3: like the Shark. You'll see this in the movie It's
Speaker 3: really fascinating. Operatives like cioperatives must improvise an unpredictable setting,
Speaker 3: such as evading surveillance or adapting to shifting political landscapes.
Speaker 3: The octopus's resourcefulness mirrors the need for creative solutions and
Speaker 3: covert operations. Seals and Green Berets operate in austere environment environments,
Speaker 3: often with limited resources. For example, and avcal might need
Speaker 3: to repurpose equipment during a maritime mission, while a Green
Speaker 3: Beret might devise unconventional tactics to train foreign forces. The
Speaker 3: octopus's ingenuity aligns with their need to think on their
Speaker 3: feet again, both embracing cognitive flexibility, whether intelligence gathering or
Speaker 3: kinetic operations. Another lesson that can be learned is trust
Speaker 3: in emotional intelligence. Foster earns the octopus trust through non
Speaker 3: intrusive and paphitic engagement and pathic engagement depth, deepening his
Speaker 3: understanding of its world. As a CIA operative, building rapport
Speaker 3: with assets, informants, or local leaders is critical for intelligence collection.
Speaker 3: Emotional intelligence helps operatives navigate cultural nuances and foster cooperation,
Speaker 3: reducing mistrust and sensitive operations. Green Berets, who specialize in
Speaker 3: foreign internal defense and unconventional warfare, rely on trust building
Speaker 3: to train and collaborate with local forces. Seals, while often
Speaker 3: focused on direct action, may need to gain the confidence
Speaker 3: of a partner forces during joint missions. Empathy, as Foster
Speaker 3: demonstrates in the movie aids and cross cultural interactions. So again,
Speaker 3: both roles require emotional intelligence to build alliances and operate
Speaker 3: effectively in diverse environments. Another one is resilience under pressure.
Speaker 3: A lesson we learned from the movie is the octopus
Speaker 3: survives repeated threats through persistence and recovery. Foster finds personal
Speaker 3: resilience by immersing himself in nature, overcoming burnout. Operatives face
Speaker 3: psychological stress from cover admissions, isolation, or ethical dilemmas. Like octopuses,
Speaker 3: endurance reflects the mental fortitude needed to persist in high
Speaker 3: stakes intelligence work. Seals in Green Berets and during extreme physics,
Speaker 3: go and mental demands, grueling training, combat, and prolonged deployments.
Speaker 3: The octopus's recovery from step back parallels their need to
Speaker 3: bounce back from injuries or mission failures. Another one is
Speaker 3: stealth and complex environments. Foster learns to help forests interconnected
Speaker 3: I'm sorry. Foster learns the Kelp forest interconnected ecosystem, recognizing
Speaker 3: how the octopus's survival depends on its environment. How does that?
Speaker 3: How is that important to a cioperative well. Operatives must
Speaker 3: grasp the ecosystem of their area of operation, political, cultural,
Speaker 3: and social to anticipate the impact of their actions, such
Speaker 3: as recruiting an asset and how that might shift local allegiances.
Speaker 3: Green Berets need to analyze tribal or regional dynamics to
Speaker 3: align operations with local realities, while seals assess terrain and
Speaker 3: enemy patterns from mission planning. Both need a holistic view
Speaker 3: to avoid unintended consequences such as escalating conflicts and last,
Speaker 3: but not least, stealth and low profile operations the octoput use.
Speaker 3: The octopus uses camouflage and stealth to evade predators moving
Speaker 3: undetected in its environment. Relevance to CIA operatives. Covert operations
Speaker 3: demand blending into environments, avoiding surveillance and maintaining operational security.
Speaker 3: For the green Berets and the Seals, of course, rely
Speaker 3: on stealth during reconnaissance infiltrations or direct action missions. For example,
Speaker 3: Seals may use underwater approaches to remain undetected, while the
Speaker 3: Green Berets blend into local populations for covert operations. So,
Speaker 3: in conclusion of this whole thing, as we see that
Speaker 3: My Octopus Teacher offers profound lessons for CIA operatives and
Speaker 3: Special Forces operators through its portrayal of observation at ap, adaptability, adaptability.
Speaker 3: I don't know why I can't say that word press building, resilience,
Speaker 3: environmental awareness, and stealth. For CIA operatives, the film underscore
Speaker 3: skills like cultural engagement and coverd trade craft, while for
Speaker 3: Special Forces highlights a lot of the recon tactical ingenuity
Speaker 3: and cross cultural collaboration that's more commonly seen with the
Speaker 3: Green Berets and Navy Seals. By drawing on the Octopus
Speaker 3: survival strategies and Foster's patient approach, both can enhance their
Speaker 3: ability to navigate complex and high state missions. So hopefully
Speaker 3: the film's insights can inspire training, mindset shifts, or operational
Speaker 3: strategies in your life. Whether you're trying to be a
Speaker 3: CIA operative or Special Forces, or a military individual or
Speaker 3: even law enforcement, just watching that
Speaker 2: Movie will give you a lot of clues of how
Speaker 2: to be a better individual in learning about your environment
Speaker 2: and others