He rocks! His mighty Art of War, written 2500 years ago (or somewhat) is like timeless still. However times change, war has changed. Specially now, with terrorism and such we (the west) are struggling to keep the world save and not to spend to much human resources. I bet the genious could think up a way or two to break the modern deadlocks.

If I could bring him here right now, what would you ask him?

I know what I would;

(Seeing that he lived like 500 BC, I'd need to change my vocabulary somewhat.

1) If the enemy had a weapon that could destroy a large city in one mighty strike. This weapon could be wielded from more then 5000 li away and it comes from the sky. When it strikes it consumes entire cities in fire. What would one do against such an enemy?

2) If the enemy brings machines that can fly, that can rain fire and explosives from the skies and fly as fast as lighting, what could one do?

First of all sun tzu was not just adept at battle tactics but also in the philosophy of warfare. He might give you the pointer "well get the fuck ot of the way" but in truth the people dropping the bomb and the reason they are dropping it would need to be affected. Sun tzu understood the way of war not the way to win one(well he could but thats not the point)....if that makes sense.

First of all sun tzu was not just adept at battle tactics but also in the philosophy of warfare. He might give you the pointer "well get the fuck ot of the way" but in truth the people dropping the bomb and the reason they are dropping it would need to be affected. Sun tzu understood the way of war not the way to win one(well he could but thats not the point)....if that makes sense.

I think though for my second question: "Bring it down with a blaze of arrows"

~sigh~ The second one is irrelevant to the works of Tzu, because a weapon is not a strategy. However...

1) If the enemy had a weapon that could destroy a large city in one mighty strike. This weapon could be wielded from more then 5000 li away and it comes from the sky. When it strikes it consumes entire cities in fire. What would one do against such an enemy?

Where one's enemy concentrates their force, one should disperse.

Where one's enemy's defense is unconcentrated, one should attack.

Surely, you read that one somewhere. ;)

~sigh~ The second one is irrelevant to the works of Tzu, because a weapon is not a strategy. However...



Where one's enemy concentrates their force, one should disperse.

Where one's enemy's defense is unconcentrated, one should attack.

Surely, you read that one somewhere. ;)

Not true at all on you first remark. Airpower can be a strategical asset.

An no matter how you disperse your forces, he will just wipe out your cities. And if he happens to disperse his army and you attack, he will still wipe out your cities or the area where you just concentrated your army. Nuke equipped vs Non Nuke equipped is a difficult thing.

The answer to question 1 would be: you could die.

The answer to question 2 would be: you could duck.

But is Art of War really the correct translation.

War for Europeans means armed conflict but War for the Chinese means all conflict.

How much of the so called War on Terror is the result of economic and culture conflict and going to the level of military conflict could have been avoided decades ago.

The US claims to be capitalist but can't make accounting mandatory in its own schools. Are Americans losers in their own economic WAR?

"All warfare is based on deception." - Sun Tzu

Are the American people deceived about the War on Terror.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6723325797482336424

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5571571467615437222

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7508779267751276431

DT

How much of the so called War on Terror is the result of economic and culture conflict and going to the level of military conflict could have been avoided decades ago.


All/All


The US claims to be capitalist but can't make accounting mandatory in its own schools. Are Americans losers in their own economic WAR?


Yea duh. Politicians just use words because they sound good and the idea behind them looks nice. But really they just seek the most cost efficient way that is still morally acceptable.


"All warfare is based on deception." - Sun Tzu

Are the American people deceived about the War on Terror.


No shit!

The US claims to be capitalist but can't make accounting mandatory in its own schools.


8th amendment.

8th amendment.

Cruel and unusual punishment.

That's cute. LOL

DT

I don't acknowledge dal7timgar every time I read what he has to say so I'd just like to say keep posting what you post man. You're one of my top 5 humanities posters.

The art of war mysteriously disappeared from my book shelf along with 5 other books :( It's a great read. I dont know how it is for others, but every time I reread it i interpreted it differently. Or maybe it was just the imagery in my head that changed. I dunno.

I don't acknowledge dal7timgar every time I read what he has to say so I'd just like to say keep posting what you post man. You're one of my top 5 humanities posters.

You mean I'm really not a loony and an idiot like those dudes in Canada and North Carolina said? That is such a relief. They had PhDs but they were merely economists.

Thanks, sometimes I think I'm pissing in the wind on the internet. Some of the coolest technology ever created filling up with bullshit.

The art of war mysteriously disappeared from my book shelf along with 5 other books It's a great read. I dont know how it is for others, but every time I reread it i interpreted it differently. Or maybe it was just the imagery in my head that changed. I dunno.

Which version was it? I have the translation by Thomas Cleary and his Mastering The Art of War. It was while I was reading that I thought, "The Chinese invented Vulcans 2500 years ago."

http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-264-4.cfm?selectedText=EXCERPT_CHAPTER

A friend of mine uses skype to talk to people in China on a regular basis. He has commented on how much differently they seem to think. Certain ideas and attitudes have permeated the culture for centuries.

Theoretically the internet makes possible a kind of global intellectual osmosis. It is just a question of what ideas people choose to spread and what catches on the most. It is possible for someone to write a really good book containing information it might have taken 20 years to figure out. Reading that book could cause a person to fit things into place that never made sense before and see things about reality that he never noticed before. The Screwing of the Average Man by David Hapgood did that for me but The Art of War added a potential for subtelty and variation onto that. A lot of what Hapgood talks about depends on deception and much of it kids could have been prepared for if they were properly educated. But that proper education would ultimately change the system. The nitwits running our schools don't intend to do it so we might as well try with the internet.

This relates to that new game theory thread.

DT

PS - Who are my 4 competitors so I can bump them off? LOL

Sun Tzu Sound

http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/details/Fiction/1000116/Art-Of-War

On the original OP it is curious that the nuclear arms race was between Europeans. Maybe Sun Tzu never would have done it. Sun Tzu said a prolonged war was bad for a nation. The arms race was really long and helped bring down the Soviet Union but is the American economy in good shape? If all of those billions had been applied differently the Soviet Union might still exist but both countries could actually be better off.

Risking blowing up the planet for ideology was really dumb.

DT

I have something to say regarding the first question:
Sun Tzu would have probably labeled the killing of civilians a waste of ammunition. The only time someone has nuked someone else, it was nuking targets of little strategic importance filled mainly with civilians. Perhaps if Sun Tzu dropped the bomb there would be a different impact on the history of the world.
The second question: like asking rommel what you do with tanks. Find out about Curtis LeMay's got your answer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Lemay#Books
any other air force general could probably tell you what to do.