Comment by rdtsc

> why would you divide up information into 15 or 20 categories?

To protect the information it in case one invididual gets compromised.

> I bet that even at "Top Secret" levels, the narrowness of view is stultifying.

Yes and that often makes work seem pointless and unrewarding. Invididuals migth get to view a very thin slice of a large project. So they might be designing an algorithm or a widget without knowing how and where it fits in the big picture.

I am guessing for some projects this compartmentalization leads to the dilution of guilt. "Hey I only build detonators", "I only build the shell", "I build the remote control", "I only leave the device in a certain place without know what it is". But all these people could be making something that would hurt or kill someone.