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What are the reasons for and against secrecy?
- The secret organisation is part of the genre expectation.
- It probably helps with the immersion.
- It sets a more shady tone
- You can write stories that deal with the difficulties of keeping the secret
But is it really the best course of action for the foundation to keep the anomalous world and their work hidden? The Broken Masquerade canon of course does it differently but the default headcanon is secrecy.
- Secrecy prevents a global panic
- It lets the foundation get away with a lot of unethical stuff
- It is easier to let people disappear
- Some of the funding probably comes from sources who have an interest in an unbroken veil
- The foundation spends a lot of recourses (amnestics, disinformation campaigns, bribes, doing missions covertly where an overt approach would be more efficient) on keeping the veil intact
- The veil could break for a number of reasons, many of them outside of foundation control it would probably be better to break the veil on their own terms and to control the public reaction
- Finding new investors would probably be easier when you can actually show them your work
- The foundation could also make money of some anomalies like offering guided tours through some containment sites.
- Or they could get some reality TV contracts. If "Ancient Aliens" gets 15 seasons imagine what the "real" thing would get.
- Recruiting new personal would be easier when people actually write application letters
- A lot of anomalies can be released into the public when they are not dangerous but the only reason to lock them up is to protect the veil. This also saves resources
- Many SCPs are locked up despite probably being scientific phenomena rather than paranormal (SCP-1512-Ex, SCP-439, SCP-3029, SCP-553). That means, the Foundation is actively hindering scientific progress
- People have a right to know. No one has elected the foundation as the gatekeeper so what right do they have to keep all the weird things about the world we are living in secret? I personally would prefer to know that the world is full of paranormal dangers.
- There are a lot of GOI that would suffer more from a broken veil than the foundation: The Serpents hand would loose its entire purpose, MC&D could not uphold the illusion of rarity anymore, Dr. Wondertainment would be sued by a lot of soccer mums despite his paperthin "not responsible notes"…
- Some SCPs are to big for the foundation to adequately deal with. Jupiter's big red spot for example. We as humanity are in an arms race with that thing. At some point the destroyer will get free. Humanity should be collectively working on counter measures (that means every weapon manufacturer, every government, every university, every mad scientist in his garage…).
Stop suggesting shooting annomalies into the sun!
"Why" you ask? Do you want 001 - When Day Breaks?
Because this is how you get 001 - When Day Breaks!
D-Class is an important aspect of the Foundation.
They are literally a human lab rat. If everyone knows that the Foundation use convict and throws them to anomalies, it would spark huge controversies. The usual "it's inhumane!" and stuff like that. This leads to the society pressuring Foundation to limit the use of D-Class or even ban the use of D-Class. Think about it, no more lab rats to use.
Well the LabRats are one thing.
But banning the use of D-Classs would be downright impossible.
There are a lot of anomaliess that can only be contained using human sacrifice like The Deer for example.
So society would have to deal with it.
—-
Are there other reasons in worldbuilding for or against the veil?
Stop suggesting shooting annomalies into the sun!
"Why" you ask? Do you want 001 - When Day Breaks?
Because this is how you get 001 - When Day Breaks!
But banning the use of D-Classs would be downright impossible.
Now I'm thinking of a world where old larry breaches but due to pressure from society the SCP foundation can't use the femur breaker. That, would be bad. While secrecy does have some objective bads I think in the end it's worth it to keep secrecy.
But is it really the best course of action for the foundation to keep the anomalous world and their work hidden?
By declaration of the Administrator, the answer is without a doubt "Yes". The following is taken from the Administrator in their "About The SCP Foundation" statement;
While the rest of mankind dwells in the light, we must stand in the darkness to fight it, contain it, and shield it from the eyes of the public, so that others may live in a sane and normal world.
Noticed, the Administrator says "While the rest of mankind dwells in the light" making a clear distinction between the Foundation and the Public (this will play into my post later) and further says "…we must stand in the darkness to fight it, contain it, and shield it from the eyes of the public…" and this alone is enough reason to defend the usage of the veil but to make the case stronger, I'll continue. The Administrator gives the reasoning for keeping the secrecy as the Administrator finishes with "…so that the others may live in a sane and normal world."
Furthermore, some of the anomalies themselves are a danger to the population just by mere knowledge of it's existence, not to mention how SCP-5000 utilized the World Wide Communication mediums (TV, Internet, etc.) to spread dangerous and deadly SCPs that harm by knowledge or viewing of it by humans, within the Mission Statement we read;
These anomalies pose a significant threat to global security by threatening either physical or psychological harm.
This gives further defense to the reasoning for secrecy, and I understand you may think; "Well what if the Foundation doesn't disclose the dangerous ones, and only the none dangerous ones" and to that I say, the Object Class guide says;
Classifying an SCP as Safe, however, does not mean that handling or activating it does not pose a threat.
With that said, let me give you an example of why letting the "safe" one's be known to the public is potentially dangerous. take SCP-662 for example with it's description;
SCP-662 is a small silver hand bell, 4 cm tall and 2 cm in circumference. The bell is missing its ringer. Within the inside of the bell, an inscription has been etched into the silver, reading: “Forever Mine – S.J.W.” The bell is susceptible to damage; however, given its safe nature, destruction has been deemed unnecessary. As it is made of very pure silver, it requires regular polishing to remain without tarnish.
Nothing seemingly dangerous in nature, but by activating the SCP anomalous properties, you could bring a dangerous reaction/outcome. in one SCP (Sorry for forgetting which one) this SCP was used to assassinate heads of states, the bell was rang the butler showed up and was given a kill/assassinate order it successfully executed.
What if a human, who has only a slight whisper of knowledge of say, SCP-3108 which in itself is Safe but the human who has gotten his/her hands on it doesn't understand it's nature and thus could cause some damage or harm. and that's just a simple off the top of the head "what if".
I see no other way the Foundation could operate to it's full capacity and capabilities by being transparent with the public without being 'opaque' or outright unknown to the public.*
This gives further defense to the reasoning for secrecy, and I understand you may think; "Well what if the Foundation doesn't disclose the dangerous ones, and only the none dangerous ones" and to that I say, the Object Class guide says;
Classifying an SCP as Safe, however, does not mean that handling or activating it does not pose a threat.
While you make a compelling argument, when people say 'release info on safe SCPs' they don't mean safe as in object classes, as like you said releasing info on SCPs based on object classes would be disaster. They mean safe as in, how normal people use the term safe, AKA, only declassify SCPs that can never cause any harm either A: As long as they are in containment or B: Ever
I think a lot of people will give a lot of answers to this, but the most lore friendly is probably the following.
It isn't. I mean, maybe telling all of humanity about anomalies would lead to a new age of prosperity. Maybe it would plunge earth into chaos. The Foundation doesn't know, and they don't care. Everyone at the facilities are told it is their moral, civic, and holy duty to secure all these anomalies secretly and, for the most part, they comply.
The Serpent's Hand believes differently. They very well may be right. After all, those opposing them do it either for financial gain, or out of some whack-job centuries old philosophy held up by a council of senile bureaucratic dictators.
Me personally, I stay more to the Serpent's Hand's side (Which may be obvious). The reasoning, and whether it's legitimate in most articles is left up to you.
I think it’s a dilemma but I’d say I side with the foundation. People talk about wanting to know the truth but some truths are too hard to handle. Also imagine declassifying cognitions hazard SCPs. I think that it’s not a perfect solution but neither is revealing it.
In the end, It’s complicated. The veil limits some things, but allows them to operate outside normal ethical dilemmas. The veil doesn’t give them many friends, but it also makes them fewer enemies. Humanity may accept the Foundations methods, but I honestly think they’ll be a lot of anomaly based groups that will be a threat: Sympathizers who will try and break out SCPs, Terrorist who want to use SCPs, and people who hate SCPs and will hunt down humanoid ones like 105. I’m not saying it WILL happen, but it’s a risk. But even the GoC and the UIU agree with the foundation that secrecy is best. So I’m going to say if I had a choice, I’d keep it a secret. Only some can fight in the dark with their sanity and mind clear, better most live in the light.
The Foundation maintains the veil because it gives them what they really want most: control. While the world at large is unaware of the Foundation’s existence, the Foundation can wipe memories, replace politicians with duplicates, appropriate D-class, eat babies, build fake moons, and otherwise commit other crimes against nature, God, and humanity as much as they want without facing opposition from anyone but other groups that maintain their secrecy for many of the same reasons. As demonstrated in SCP-5000, the SCP Foundation is the single most powerful organization on the planet. With their functionally unlimited resources, they could easily conquer or destroy the world if they weren’t busy fighting 6000 different SCPs and several dozen groups of interest all at once. If the world at large knew of the Foundation’s existence, people would never tolerate it, because it’s an existential threat to freedom. People wouldn’t panic because the world is suddenly full of indestructible lizards, eldritch gods, and killer robots - they’d panic because all the conspiracy nuts were right, and there’s been a shadow cabal of ultra-rich private citizens who answer no one controlling the world this whole time.
