![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Daily Reflection 4.08.21
Apr. 8th, 2021 08:36 am Some advice from Sun Tzu:
We've discussed these ideas in different form many times in these posts. Attack the enemy where he is weak and you are strong. Don't attack strong points, or oppose forces that you can't resist.
As for baits, modern life is riddled with them. Social media is the worst, with Twitter probably the absolute worst-- every tweet ever made by someone you don't like is a bait held out by the enemy. And remember, because this is crucial-- the enemy is a demon with two heads. Get caught up in fighting with one, and you will very often find yourself fighting alongside the other: Now the demon is your friend, and you have become, for a time, a demoniac.
Television and advertisements are also baits. I enjoy visual media and am not opposed to it on principle. My favorite TV show is the 90's sci fi series Babylon 5; my favorite movie is Groundhog Day. But visual media have a power like nothing else to simulate experience and, thus, to alter your memories, emotions, and your very sense of self. It's critical to retain self-possession when watching them-- or, rather, to choose what you watch based on what you want to create in yourself, rather than what's popular, or you may find yourself transformed into a very different sort of person from who you thought you were.
It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.
Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.
Do not swallow a bait offered by the enemy.
Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.
Do not swallow a bait offered by the enemy.
We've discussed these ideas in different form many times in these posts. Attack the enemy where he is weak and you are strong. Don't attack strong points, or oppose forces that you can't resist.
As for baits, modern life is riddled with them. Social media is the worst, with Twitter probably the absolute worst-- every tweet ever made by someone you don't like is a bait held out by the enemy. And remember, because this is crucial-- the enemy is a demon with two heads. Get caught up in fighting with one, and you will very often find yourself fighting alongside the other: Now the demon is your friend, and you have become, for a time, a demoniac.
Television and advertisements are also baits. I enjoy visual media and am not opposed to it on principle. My favorite TV show is the 90's sci fi series Babylon 5; my favorite movie is Groundhog Day. But visual media have a power like nothing else to simulate experience and, thus, to alter your memories, emotions, and your very sense of self. It's critical to retain self-possession when watching them-- or, rather, to choose what you watch based on what you want to create in yourself, rather than what's popular, or you may find yourself transformed into a very different sort of person from who you thought you were.
