Weakness, says Robert Greene, can actually be a powerful thing when used properly. He says that sometimes giving up can be to your advantage, because if you bide your time after your surrender, you can resurface more powerful than your opponent. Of course, it's not instantaneous. The price is that you tolerate your opponent lording over you for a while - days, months, years, who knows - until such time that he thinks he's got you eating out of the palm of his hand... When in truth, you know that you're the one who's got him eating at the palm of your hand. What he doesn't know is that, while he was busy flaunting the fact that he's won over you, you were observing him for his weaknesses. And the thing is, his growing pride and head of hot air becomes weakness enough for you to succeed at least halfway.
I especially liked that anecdote about Voltaire.
"Voltaire was in exile in London at a time when anti-French sentiment was at its highest. One day walking through the streets, he found himself surrounded by an angry crowd. "Hang him. Hang the Frenchman," they yelled. Voltaire calmly addressed the mob with the following words: "Men of England! You wish to kill me because I am a Frenchman. Am I not punished enough in not being born an Englishman?" The crowd cheered his thoughtful words, and escorted him safely back to his lodgings."
- The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, 1985
Clearly, the English had been had. I thought, 'Were they that passionately patriotic to actually buy such a statement?' - and it occurred to me, that perhaps they were, at that time, and Voltaire knew it. He played to their desire, the desire to be superior (which proves to be a weakness of some sort), and he succeeded.
I acknowledge that using the surrender tactic will take discipline. You might ask, 'What? Discipline? Isn't it disappointing enough to take that walk of shame of surrender? Now I need discipline to make it work?' Frankly, yes. You'll need discipline so that you don't lose your cool when your superior is ROFL His FAO about how he's.. well.. your superior. You'll need discipline to bide your time, and to know when your superior is at his weakest, most vulnerable moment. You'll need discipline to read his actions carefully to even know what his weaknesses are. Discipline, and a whole lot of wit and cunning.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it? I don't know about you, but it made me wonder about one thing: You know how sometimes you think you get away with "crazy" things behind your parents' backs, because they don't react on it when you get home? What if they actually DO know, and are just biding their time to ground you? How to get out of that one...
Krizia Cureg, Hi18 O
Krizia Cureg, Hi18 O
19 comments:
This law is exactly what I call "silent revenge." For the price of temporarily conceding to your enemy, you are actually planning a bigger comeback. But first, your plan must be powerful enough, that your "conqueror" suddenly gives up to you. Otherwise, there will be more reason for him to punish you, with worse consequences. If used in the right way, this temporary surrender will eventually spell ultimate success.
On the other way around, this law could also mean, power can be transformed to weakness, that's why powerful people should be wary of that. When you're up, there's no way but down - most of the times. And most of the times, your strongest point could also be your weakness.
Joan Medalla
Hi18 N
History would tell us that most of the successful leaders in the past were not those who are good at selling themselves, glorifying their achievements, but are the ones who are silent, always on the lookout, cunning as a snake. It doesn't matter how the people will view your situation. Even if you put yourself down to a point of having a dignity not befitting a human being, it wouldn't matter as long as in the end, you surface powerful. I guess in this case, to a certain point, we can say that the ends can justify the means.
Dexter Tanengsy, Hi18-N
This reminds me of movies wherein people ‘play dead’ in order to trick their enemies into thinking that they have won. Once the enemies have their moment of victory, the people suddenly rise up behind them and go in for the kill.
Another would be when the heroes would feign surrender and submit themselves to the power of the enemy. This gets them into the enemy’s territory, where they can (in time) continue their plans of defeating their enemy.
Both of these require the enemy celebrating victory too early, perhaps this is because they tend to get bigheaded about winning, and ultimately overlook the fact that they might just be victims of a con or a trap.
It’s all a matter of showing that you are weak and vulnerable. Doing so eliminates you from being any form of a threat. Once they let their guard down with you, that is the time to rise up and fight back.
Perception again plays a key role here. Act helpless, and you will be treated as such, so that you can take them by surprise. They won’t expect anything from you, so your attack will prove to be quite effective.
Marian Janelle Aliwalas
HI 18 N
I agree with this law in the sense that although it may seem not right to surrender to you enemy, surrendering can be used as a bait towards the enemy.
Think of this: You don't need to surrender literally, but you can at least "pretend" to surrender to the enemy. by doing so, it can distract your enemy by stopping his army in fighting yours. Then once they stop fighting, you can launch a surprise attack against them, with the advantage to your army as they get caught unguarded.
When we mean surrender here, we do not mean losing in the battle but making an attempt to gain advantage over the enemy.
Duey T. Guison
Hi18 N
Playing Dead is sort of related to the principle of concealment of power. To Play dead in the form of conceding to a contender of power would mean to hide the weakness that was exposed during an engagement and at the same time mobilizing your strength in order to mount a counter attack.
strike and run tactic. would best illustrate this method of attaining power.
VINCE
Surrendering is a good tool for survival. Admission of weakness shows strength. (it may seem weird). But in this law, the power to decide your fate is the victor. it's either you'll die, or be spared plus consequences. If you're spared, you now know the weakness behind the defeat and strengthen it by the next battle.
Don Faylon
Hi18N
"biks said...
Surrendering is a good tool for survival. Admission of weakness shows strength..."
There have been many laws offering the same idea of stepping back first to get ahead. This law however for me has gone too much into the extreme. There is a huge difference between letting someone thing they are in control and you actually being in control, rather than playing dead and laughing about it.
For me it is a rather pathetic strategy and people who resort to this tactic are either cowards or has truly no more options. I would call this law cheap. It is like getting kicked in the groin during a soccer match. No one sees it but the damage has been done without any dignity.
If you would look at other laws which promote deception and such, even though that is a also a sly tactic, I am sure one who have fallen victim to such a tactic would give praise to the person that has deceived them.
I don't think any praise or respect should be given to people, who give up and stab you in the back without any style. Just a simple, brutal and cowardly act.
So for anyone who thinks this law should be considered reputable and effective, I would suggest for that person to check out the other 47 laws that are better than this.
Niko Falcon
Hi18-N
I think possums use this tactic as their defense mechanism against predators, as seen in the movie Ice Age 2. They play dead when vultures approach them. So, the predators stay away from them, thinking that they really are dead. In a way their "weakness" is a form of power.
Alex Salaveria
HI18-N
This law is quite evident on many FPJ movies. FPJ at the beginning, as the hero of the story, will allow himself to be beaten up by his enemies in order to get the sympathy of the audience. And then soon, he will have the courage to fight back and redeem himself by winning from his enemies. Through this way that FPJ movies become blockbuster hits and thus naming FPJ as "Da King."
Indeed, the surrender tactic is very effective on movies like this. But, reality is a far different from movies. We can not expect this tactic to always work its way out. Aside from discipline, wit and cunning, I think this law also requires patience - long patience on waiting for the right timing and to endure all the mocking laugh of your enemy who now feels superior over you because of your surrender.
Miriam R. Reyes
Hi18-O
Line from the movie 'Gladiator': "I have been told of a certain sea snake which has a very unusual method of attracting its prey. It will lie at the bottom of the ocean as if wounded. Then its enemies will approach and yet it will lie quite still. Then its enemies will take little bites of it and yet it remains still. So we will lie still and let our enemies come to us and nibble."
As Dexter puts it, "the ends justify the means". It doesn't really matter if you put yourself down, like how the sea snake lets its prey take little nibbles of it. In the end, the sea snake's still the predator.
___________________________________
Patrick Reyes Hi18O
I think this law is very closely related to law 19 which is to not offend the wrong person. Surrender doesn't meaning that you're giving up. In the real sense of surrender, you are bidding your time until you can fight for your beliefs when you gain an upper hand.
Alan Mamonluk
Hi18-O
While I think that transforming your own weaknesses into something positive is admirable, using another's weaknesses to get power is just wrong. It can reveal your own weakness or desperation.
Eric Andres
HI 18 Section N
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