I paused for a moment and said, "But there may be a demand for them to hack those innocent people. After all, how could a morning paper or TV channel be influential? Because the general public love it. How to make a paper or channel attractive? To have a lot of exclusive first-hand news - not only news of politicians but of all walks of life."
"You have a point there," the retired cabinet secretary nodded.
"The situation is, in fact, a classical psychological trap," I went on, "Most of us enjoy that brief moment of satisfaction and love to hear some private news of the others - except when that's our own news."
"Then, where is the trap?"
"To put it simply, most people get a tiny benefit at the cost of a few unfortunate ones," I continued, "If you balance the two sides, the harm to that few persons obviously outweighs the cumulative benefit of all the others. But, most of us would only focus on what we get and forget about the others - or, at most, pray and hope we do not become one of those unfortunate few in the future!"
"Well, are you going to defend for the old man with this argument ?" Sir Humphrey smiled.
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