• int_not_found@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    79
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    A little reminder that Sun Tzu “The Art of War” is not some grand masterpiece in strategic thinking. It is a guide aimed at nobelmen that were so far removed from reality, that they needed to be told things like “You can’t just order a win in a real competition” or “If you don’t give your soldiers food, they become weak and die”

    The reason, why his literature created such a cultural ripple, is that telling them these absolute basic things, massively improved there performance on the battlefield. Not because it made them a grand strategic thinker, but because they no longer acted like spoiled toddlers throwing toys around.

    Saying someone is a Sun Tzu-level strategic thinker, means they have an absolute basic grasp on reality and nothing really more.

    So either 4D Chess is much more simple than regular chess, or this knob doesn’t know the things he’s referencing.

    • Match!!@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      22 hours ago

      The most absolutely insightful thing in the art of war is that cornered soldiers are going to fight to the death and give it their all, so 1) leave your opponents an exit and 2) get your own soldiers cornered on purpose

        • taladar@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          edit-2
          1 day ago

          Funnily enough we managed to make companies so much worse that the family owned medium sized (think a few hundred employees) companies run by the younger generation of the family often look better than the average company run by a CEO hired specifically for that role from a large pool of potential candidates. Most likely because they actually have some long-term thinking left.

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      Did Sun Tzu even write the thing about “never interrupt your enemy when he’s destroying himself making a mistake”? Because that is pretty cool. Which of course does not reflect at all on this Xhitter idiot.

      • Womble@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        21
        ·
        1 day ago

        Nah that’s generally attributed to Napoleon “Never interupt your enemy while he is in the process of making a mistake”.

        • Laser@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          1 day ago

          My copy of the book has this translation: “To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” which is not exactly the same, but in a similar spirit.

    • Laser@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      A little reminder that Sun Tzu “The Art of War” is not some grand masterpiece in strategic thinking. It is a guide aimed at nobelmen that were so far removed from reality, that they needed to be told things like “You can’t just order a win in a real competition” or “If you don’t give your soldiers food, they become weak and die”

      That’s not really what the book says. It does go into strategy (though today it’s rather inspiration than something to be followed to the letter).

      Plus, while you make it seem trivial, logistics are really hard and must not be overlooked. It’s like saying “Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad because they didn’t know that if you [edit: don’t] give your soldiers food, they become weak and die!” like, they probably knew this, but their strategy lead to a situation where this happened.

      • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        That’s not really what the book says.

        Yes, it literally is.

        Chapter 9.29 and 30
        When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food
        If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst

        logistics are really hard and must not be overlooked

        Chapter 2.9
        Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs

        The entire Art of War can be printed on 4 pages of A4 paper if you remove all the fancy layout that usually goes into the book to pad it to something over 50.

        • Laser@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 day ago

          When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst

          This refers to the enemy army, not their own – at least from my reading, these paragraphs are about observing signs about enemy plans and capabilities.

          Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs

          I mean, OK? My point was that the book is a strategic guide and not just obvious stuff noblemen don’t know. But there is also plenty of other stuff in there, and as I said earlier, logistics are probably the most important aspect of modern conflict.

          • int_not_found@feddit.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            1 day ago

            I mean, OK? My point was that the book is a strategic guide and not just obvious stuff noblemen don’t know. But there is also plenty of other stuff in there, and as I said earlier, logistics are probably the most important aspect of modern conflict.

            Looks like I was a little too hyperbolic in my summary. Doesn’t help, if two non-native speakers try to communicate in such a way. :D

            Yes you are right. There is a good reason, why the booklet is widely known. No, I don’t think logistics is easy.

            I’m just having a chuckle about the use of “Sun Tzu level” in the post, where it is used as a metaphor for being smarter than everyone else. While the book referenced is a dated beginner-level introduction to the subject of military strategy.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 day ago

        if you give your soldiers food, they become weak and die

        Something tells me that is not what you meant to write here.

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 day ago

    What a meme conspiracy. Unfortunately not the only one, and not the only person spreading such stuff in earnest.
    A much flogged image, but this is the only comment I can muster:
    conspiracy red string

    Meh.

  • logicbomb@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    107
    ·
    2 days ago

    Imagine wasting your life by worshiping the rich.

    Everybody who has worked with Musk says that he has to be distracted when he goes to Tesla, SpaceX, or whatever, because otherwise, he’ll just cause problems for the adults who are actually working. He has no idea how to run a business, and basically just publicly lies to inflate the value of his businesses, and relies on the fact that there are no consequences for rich people lying.

    Every semi-intelligent person who has worked with Trump says that he’s one of the dumbest people they’ve ever met.

    • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 day ago

      One key to massive financial success in the United States is being too stupid to worry about the consequences of fraud and having enough money that you can likely avoid those consequences. Trump and Musk are just the luckiest two of a large group of rich idiots.

  • Archangel1313@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    67
    ·
    2 days ago

    Ok, so let’s assume they are playing 4D chess. What’s the objective? Creating a distraction before releasing the Epstein files? That’s what all this is for?

    That’s not 4D chess. That’s a clown show with smoke bombs.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 day ago

            Elon can’t easily buy or short his own stock, there are regulations that require advance notice of any trades. So Elon’s priority is to move the stock higher, since he can’t time the stock.

            • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 day ago
              1. Elon is not the only market participant
              2. None of these people follow laws
              3. Elon done bad shit sec did nothing he literally said he doesnt respect the sec on twatter

              Lemmy normie: Elon wouldn’t do something that violates SEC regulations 🤡

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                24 hours ago

                He was forced to buy Twitter, and he said as much in an interview:

                Clayton: So then you change your mind again, and decided to buy it – did you do that? Did you do that?

                Musk: Well, I kind of had to.

                Clayton: Right. Did you do that, because you thought that a court would make you do that?

                Musk: Yes.

                Clayton: Right.

                Musk: Yes, that is the reason.

                Clayton: So you were still trying to get out of it. And then you just were advised by lawyers, “Look, you’re going to buy this?”

                Musk: Yes.

                So yeah, I do think he has some respect for the SEC.

    • magic_lobster_party@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 day ago

      I suppose Elon is feeling cornered.

      The reputation of Tesla has never been lower and he’s at risk of getting kicked out. The future of SpaceX is uncertain under Trump. His role in the government didn’t pan out.

      So I guess his only hope is to get Trump out of office as soon as possible. Maybe the next one will be less hostile against Elon.

      I don’t think he will succeed. The cult of Trump is too strong. Elon is done for.

      • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        This all assumes the data Musk’s goons stole (and the star link antennas he installed to keep stealing it), isn’t plenty to keep musk in control of the government. They literally went there to set up the shadow government that they’d been dreaming and projecting about.

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 day ago

      This MAGA xhitter retreats into heavy copium mode because they just cannot allow themselves to see what is really happening rn.

      And what better copium than another outrageous conspiracy narrative.

  • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    what narrative even. his conspiracy theory is just that he is releasing the secret pedo stuff, but with extra steps?

    conspiracy theorists used to come up with cooler stuff.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    2 days ago

    Can’t see what the man is claiming the end game is, honestly don’t have a clue.

  • katy ✨@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    but the only people who care about the epstein files are dingbat conspiracy theorists who already support trump.