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readoldthings) wrote2021-04-20 09:56 am
readoldthings) wrote2021-04-20 09:56 am
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Daily Reflection 4.20.21
Here is a useful selection from Chapter 8 of The Art of War:
Let's see if we can reframe these in terms of the inner struggle for control of one's own soul and destiny. Some will be the same, but others must necessarily differ. The five dangerous faults might be called:
1. Impulsiveness. This means acting from the internal passions and from outside impulses like TV or social media, without reflecting on consequences and without reference to principles or goals.
2. Cowardice. This specifically means living from fear, and is very common these days, to judge by the number of people I see wearing masks while driving their own cars.
3. Irascibility. This also means what it does in Sun Tzu-- living from wrath, which can be easily provoked. Social media and TV news thrive by provoking both fear and wrath, leading the subject to lash out wildly, like a trapped animal.
4. Conformity. This is the fourth of the major passions, along with lust, fear, and wrath, that are targeted for manipulation by news media, advertisers, politicians and other modern techno-magicians. All human beings are social animals. We want to be part of the group, and we don't want to be ostracized or spoken badly of.
5. Laziness. It's the case that many of us want to accomplish great things in our lives, but we don't want to have to endure the difficulties involved in doing so. If we want to achieve anything, we need to be willing to sacrifice our comfort for it, in the same way that a good general, even as he does his best to preserve his army, must be willing to sacrifice such men as are necessary to achieve victory.
It was common in earlier times to oppose a saving virtue to every vice. In our case, we might overcome these five dangerous faults with the following list of virtues:
1. Reflection, which leads us to act only if it is right and in our long term benefit to do so;
2. Courage, which allows us to do what is right in spite of danger;
3. Patience, which allows us to endure provocation;
4. Independence, which allows us to do what we choose, regardless of the opinions of others; and
5. Industriousness, which allows us to work to achieve our goals in spite of difficulty.
There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:
1. Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
2. Cowardice, which leads to capture;
3. A hasty Temper, which can be provoked by insults;
4. A delicacy of Honor which is sensitive to shame;
5. Over-Solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
1. Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
2. Cowardice, which leads to capture;
3. A hasty Temper, which can be provoked by insults;
4. A delicacy of Honor which is sensitive to shame;
5. Over-Solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
Let's see if we can reframe these in terms of the inner struggle for control of one's own soul and destiny. Some will be the same, but others must necessarily differ. The five dangerous faults might be called:
1. Impulsiveness. This means acting from the internal passions and from outside impulses like TV or social media, without reflecting on consequences and without reference to principles or goals.
2. Cowardice. This specifically means living from fear, and is very common these days, to judge by the number of people I see wearing masks while driving their own cars.
3. Irascibility. This also means what it does in Sun Tzu-- living from wrath, which can be easily provoked. Social media and TV news thrive by provoking both fear and wrath, leading the subject to lash out wildly, like a trapped animal.
4. Conformity. This is the fourth of the major passions, along with lust, fear, and wrath, that are targeted for manipulation by news media, advertisers, politicians and other modern techno-magicians. All human beings are social animals. We want to be part of the group, and we don't want to be ostracized or spoken badly of.
5. Laziness. It's the case that many of us want to accomplish great things in our lives, but we don't want to have to endure the difficulties involved in doing so. If we want to achieve anything, we need to be willing to sacrifice our comfort for it, in the same way that a good general, even as he does his best to preserve his army, must be willing to sacrifice such men as are necessary to achieve victory.
It was common in earlier times to oppose a saving virtue to every vice. In our case, we might overcome these five dangerous faults with the following list of virtues:
1. Reflection, which leads us to act only if it is right and in our long term benefit to do so;
2. Courage, which allows us to do what is right in spite of danger;
3. Patience, which allows us to endure provocation;
4. Independence, which allows us to do what we choose, regardless of the opinions of others; and
5. Industriousness, which allows us to work to achieve our goals in spite of difficulty.