A young Napoleon arrives on the scene with abook under his arm symbolizing his years of study of military history. He finds the French generals and leaders in a pub. Writing in The Art of War some 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu postulated two dialectic forces: Zheng is the “ordinary” element that fixes the enemy in place.
Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
61–67 of 67 posts
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#62My understanding about the article, which makes it interesting to me, is that (according to TFA) a lot of what is generally understood about The Art of War as general strategic concerns applied in very large scales or long timeframes was actually way more literal than people think. Always according to TFA, when Sun Tzu recommends "attacking allies" he literally means attacking them on the battlefield, because they ar…
> Overall, always according to TFA, Sun Tzu's Art of Way is way more practical and literal, and less "hand-wavey overall strategy" than generally understood. I think I actually like this because it more or less destroys its appropriation by self-help/business gurus. After all, if Sun Tzu is literally talking about killing your enemies while they are crossing the river, it's less useful as a metaphor for startups -- a welcome side-effect.
If you read Sun Tzu, at least you can then claim to have read one of the classics, and know a little bit about ancient warfare. Even if it's not directly applicable to running a startup. Which is certainly more than can be said of the pointless waffle that fills the self-help/business shelves in the bookstore.
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#63My understanding about the article, which makes it interesting to me, is that (according to TFA) a lot of what is generally understood about The Art of War as general strategic concerns applied in very large scales or long timeframes was actually way more literal than people think. Always according to TFA, when Sun Tzu recommends "attacking allies" he literally means attacking them on the battlefield, because they ar…
> Overall, always according to TFA, Sun Tzu's Art of Way is way more practical and literal, and less "hand-wavey overall strategy" than generally understood. I think I actually like this because it more or less destroys its appropriation by self-help/business gurus. After all, if Sun Tzu is literally talking about killing your enemies while they are crossing the river, it's less useful as a metaphor for startups -- a…
Oh, yes, agreed! And of course it's worthwhile to read The Art of War, because it's an interesting book.
But note I was talking about those worthless derivatives "The Art of War for Business", "The Art of War for Entrepreneurs", etc. Those rely on Sun Tzu's work being generic enough it can be applied to whatever, so it's hilarious to find out it maybe wasn't... exposing those derivative books as the trash they truly are.
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I knew what you said just FYI. I wouldn't treat the book or show too seriously... it's just entertainment, not history. The show's main character is SiMa Yi, which is kind of new to me. It's like a retold of "Romance of Three Kingdom" from a SiMa family and Cao family perspective. Though I hated a lot of Chinese TV shows, this one I actually like and would recommend. I can't remember any combat in this show though, p…
Sorry if I come across a bit strong. I am a something of a history buff, and the liberty that some Chinese historical shows take is shocking to me. I am like you, curious about different interpretations of familiar events.
I know it's just fyi. I understand the frustration that one of your favorite parts of history is being stumped on by bad TV shows. Any kind of "YanYi" is pretty just entertainment show. Some are not too bad, some are just aweful. In recent years, these bad shows are just getting worse. I think "JunShiLiangMeng" is better than most. Characters looked normal rather than hair-dyed XiaoXianRou with no facial expressions.
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#65This article about the context of Sun Tzu, made me remember my own discoveries about the bible (disclaimer: I am a firmly Christian) A lot of the passages that seem completely controversial now, can be understood if you think about what was going on. For example, saw a bunch of people saying it was proof of misoginy the fact the bible consider menstrual fluids "unclean", thing is, that law was enacted when they lived…
The apple was clearly a clitoris.
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#66This article about the context of Sun Tzu, made me remember my own discoveries about the bible (disclaimer: I am a firmly Christian) A lot of the passages that seem completely controversial now, can be understood if you think about what was going on. For example, saw a bunch of people saying it was proof of misoginy the fact the bible consider menstrual fluids "unclean", thing is, that law was enacted when they lived…
Please don't take HN threads on generic tangents and certainly not generic religious ones. Those are likely to start religious flamewars, which is exactly what happened in this case.
Re: Who Was Sun Tzu’s Napoleon?
#67This article about the context of Sun Tzu, made me remember my own discoveries about the bible (disclaimer: I am a firmly Christian) A lot of the passages that seem completely controversial now, can be understood if you think about what was going on. For example, saw a bunch of people saying it was proof of misoginy the fact the bible consider menstrual fluids "unclean", thing is, that law was enacted when they lived…
> For example, saw a bunch of people saying it was proof of misoginy the fact the bible consider menstrual fluids "unclean", thing is, that law was enacted when they lived in a mobile tent camp, if a person with a blood-transmissible disease washed on the middle of the camp water source for example, it could quickly infect everyone. This is just purely ex post facto pseudo-scientific rationalism of rampant misogyny.…
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