Wryan
06-24-2008, 05:42 PM
What a thundering disappointment!
Maybe one out of every ten or twelve points is actually a sage piece of counsel. The rest, while pertly delivered and eloquent in their way, come across as if for the head-slappingingly dense and slow-witted.
Hey, did you know? When your enemy greatly outnumbers you...you should refrain from attacking.
Hey, did you know? When you are retreating, if you move faster than your enemy...they won't be able to catch up to you.
Hey, did you know? You should always shoot for coming up with unfathomable strategies. Such as? No idea, but make sure they are unfathomable.
If you would like to argue that the only reason such instructions seem a trifle obvious to us today is because we have collectively inherited and streamlined his knowledge over the past few millenia, eventually reaching the point where such strategy becomes inborn and second-nature...to that I say, "Psh!" How insulting should we be to military commanders before Sun Tzu's time to suggest that they were so deftly ignorant of basic concepts that they needed them spelled out?
Additionally, to those corporate warriors who embrace the text as their definitive tactical guide...I can only laugh until my bowels empty. Really? Really? Are you sure that your belief in such isn't the exaggerated/empty posturing of those who would like to see themselves as cutthroat soldiers in need of "an edge"? The modest ratio I offered earlier is shaved into an even eensier sliver when counting the pearls of Tzu's War that can actually be shoehorned into a shortlist of strategies for the corporate world.
Strike while the iron's hot. Know the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your adversaries. Lie.
There. Done.
Maybe one out of every ten or twelve points is actually a sage piece of counsel. The rest, while pertly delivered and eloquent in their way, come across as if for the head-slappingingly dense and slow-witted.
Hey, did you know? When your enemy greatly outnumbers you...you should refrain from attacking.
Hey, did you know? When you are retreating, if you move faster than your enemy...they won't be able to catch up to you.
Hey, did you know? You should always shoot for coming up with unfathomable strategies. Such as? No idea, but make sure they are unfathomable.
If you would like to argue that the only reason such instructions seem a trifle obvious to us today is because we have collectively inherited and streamlined his knowledge over the past few millenia, eventually reaching the point where such strategy becomes inborn and second-nature...to that I say, "Psh!" How insulting should we be to military commanders before Sun Tzu's time to suggest that they were so deftly ignorant of basic concepts that they needed them spelled out?
Additionally, to those corporate warriors who embrace the text as their definitive tactical guide...I can only laugh until my bowels empty. Really? Really? Are you sure that your belief in such isn't the exaggerated/empty posturing of those who would like to see themselves as cutthroat soldiers in need of "an edge"? The modest ratio I offered earlier is shaved into an even eensier sliver when counting the pearls of Tzu's War that can actually be shoehorned into a shortlist of strategies for the corporate world.
Strike while the iron's hot. Know the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your adversaries. Lie.
There. Done.