- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Lack of information often leads to hasty conclusions, which in turn lead to choices often regretted by those involved. Underestimation (or overestimation, in some cases) often stem from such cases of misinformation. One such event happened back in 1920 when American art dealers were suffering terrible losses. Their buyers were slowly dying off and there were no other people who would replace them – at least, not anytime soon. Trying to avoid any further losses, they set aside their differences and joined together in hopes of saving themselves.
One of these dealers went by the name of Joseph Duveen. Under normal circumstances, Duveen would wait and try to understand the thought process of his potential victims. However, everything was far from normal when one is on the brink of losing everything so he decided to go on with the plan he and his associates came up with. The plan would have been flawless, they would enthrall Henry Ford - the wealthiest man in America back then - with books that showed the alleged '100 Greatest Paintings in the World'. Once Ford buys the paintings from them (they had them all), their problems would be solved and Ford would've been the world's greatest collector. But when they offered the three-volume set of books to their potential savior (they gave them to him as a gift to further captivate him into falling for their plan), Ford just told them that he had no need for the originals because all of them were right there in the books that they just gave him.
Not everyone works the same way. This was the lesson that Duveen learned with his brief encounter with Henry Ford. Ford was simply too much of a simpleton to actually fall for the trap that had been set up for him. If only he had decided to examine his target for a while longer, Duveen's plan would have worked (or another plan may have been formulated) for him and his associates.
Information is one of the most important – if not dangerous – resource one can ever hope to have. The only problem left really is that those around you can analyze and use information against you. Try to appear to be what you are not; that would be the only possible way to counteract what others may be plotting against you. All that’s left to do afterwards is to watch them wonder what probably went wrong.
Kevin Bjorn Villanueva Umali
Hi 18-L
15 comments:
they say that knowledge is power. i find truth in this because having sufficient and reliable information about others can guide you in dealing with them. if you are sure about how you perceive another person, then you are increasing your chances of preventing trouble from happening. in order to get to know a person really well, one must really spend time with that other person, interact, and just find out as many things as he can about that person. in that way, the perceptions become more accurate. however, one must be wary of lies and deceptions. one must know if the other person is simply creating a front or not. it is important to make the other person feel like you can be trusted to be able to prevent trickery. you want your knowledge of others to be true. is you know another person well, you will be able to know how to approach him. you don't want to underestimate or overestimate others only to find out that you were wrong and that you embarrassed yourself. have the necessary information and make sure it is reliable.
-Philip Albert T. Verde
Hi18 K
I like the example used, the art dealers, while explaning your law. It showed me that if one must accomplish a goal, regards to what it is, one must first know the person. However you failed to specifically specify the part within the law that states "do not offend the wrong person".
It pays of to understand how a person thinks, talks, and acts before engaging them in any manner. Different people act different ways, it is foolish to assume otherwise.
The most successful people analyze the different decisions and people they have to go through before meeting and facing them.
Hi- L Richard Hahn
There is basically a risk factor in dealing with all kinds of people. One can never be sure - there is always the uncertainty principle. Therefore, while this law requires with a well-planned strategy, one must nevertheless follow laws such as boldness and formlessness - to allow such unforeseen circumstances.
Dylan Valerio H18K
Knowledge is indeed power. One must be wary of another person's viewpoint if he/she is plotting something against that person. But of course, there is a limit to everything. For one, it would be practically impossible for anyone to know every single thing about another person. And what if that person uses the tactics mentioned in the other laws (i.e. deception and unpredictability)? Would it still be possible for one to really see through someone who is wiser than him/her?
Monica Copuyoc
Hi18- L
@ monica: probably not. that's why it's a risk. though you can't know everything, you can more or less predict what that person will/will not do. and if you're wrong, well. that was the risk you took.
ocampo 18-k
After seeing Hannibal a couple of minutes ago, and that's Hannibal the general not the doctor, I think Scipio I and a number of Roman generals didn't quite know who he was dealing with. He probably thought Hannibal was another barbarian general. Because of this Rome suffered heavy losses because of Hannibal's surprises.
Denis Flores
Hi 18K
I agree with what Denis said. The main reason why the Romans couldn't win against Hannibal at the start was because they underestimated him in more ways than one. I noticed how the dialect between the Romans (regarding Hannibal) mostly consisted of using the term Barbarian. The fact that they had a stereotypical point of view of barbarians is what caused all of their losses. They simply thought that because he was a barbarian he was not equipped with enough knowledge and intelligence to outwit them.
We shouldn't wait for several defeats to realize the power of knowledge and knowing your opponents. We should learn to lower our pride and be aware that people aren't what they seem and that we can't be sure that we will be able to outdo and defeat everyone.
Knowledge is necessary to (a line taken from the popular reality tv show SURVIVOR) outwit, outplay and outlast everyone. Isn't the main goal of everyone fighting for power to be the one man left standing?
Teri Marcelo
Hi 18-K
couldn't we say that having losses to gain knowledge of your opponents can be another way of practicing this law of power? it doesn't only mean that you have to know your opponent before hand, but you just have to know how your enemy ticks to gain the advantage.
in relation to hannibal, he said that scipio ii knew him very well when he was defeated. that being after a huge amount of losses for the romans, still caught up to know their foe and win the war.
miguel ignacio, L
To Miguel:
Yes, having losses can garner you enough knowledge on a person. You can learn from your mistakes and gain an advantage on your opponent because you would be aware of his tactics and how he really ticks. However, lets say you were fighting in a war, are you really going to risk anyone's life just to see what you did wrong? I'm guessing that would be a no. In the realm of struggling for power, you have to be ahead of the game (if you read my blog on this law this is basically what I think every person should focus on). In order to be a good leader, you have to beat your enemies before they attack. You cannot afford wasting your time, money and effort on attacking without any knowledge on your opponents just to see how they would react.
You failed to mention the possibility of our opponents crushing us until the end (reference to one of the laws). In the case of the Romans and Hannibal Barca, Hannibal made a mistake of not finishing what he started. He gave the Romans an ample amount of time to regroup and reassess their warring skills. Not everyone will make this mistake. How can we use the knowledge we would gain from defeat if our opponents have used up all our resources and killed all our men?
Teri Marcelo
Hi 18-K
Not every bit of information on a certain person is available for us to know of. While one might think that he has searched thoroughly on that person's background or he has studied that person's every move and how that person thinks, there is always room for error and mystery. Remember what you know of the person might just be his "mask".
Rhea Entuna
section L
sometimes people just want to show others that they're this law- that they shouldn't be offended. lots of people use (and abuse) their power to threaten people this way, like the mafia for one. they were great assassins and gunmen, and the people had the notion that they should never mess with them.
jaclyn yap
hi18 K
law #35:master the art of timing
“The only problem left really is that those around you can analyze and use information against you…” Information is indeed an important thing to possess. You should have it, but as much as possible, you should prevent your enemy from having it, especially if it’s information about you. I don’t think you need to be something you’re not to hide information about yourself. Because your enemies are not the only ones watching you. Even your allies are. If they see that you’re a different person when in front of somebody else, will they continue to trust you? What if they think you’re not worthy of their trust?
It’s really important to know who you’re dealing before actually dealing with him. If you’re unsure, whatever you may be planning might not go as planned if the person doesn’t do what you expected him to do. So maybe a follow-up to this law might be to treat it as chess. Predict possible moves of the person and just make a plan for any possibility.
@jaki: the mafia is a nice example.they really know how to tell people to not mess with them...
Chris Macalinao
Hi18 – L
Ah yes, information. The every powerful decider. It was from the Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Eve were banished from Eden.
I really a agree with this one. It goes into accordance with Sun Tzu, as you mentioned, a saying that I think everyone should take into heart.
More examples would have been nice, I think this is probably a very common mistake. But the example given has very good, simple yet not so much predictable.
-Jan Leyson
Hi18 K
I really liked your example, haha. Poor artist guys. Carrying out this law is actually a matter of 'researching' all the right things--from a man's favorite color to his business practices. Simply put, it is dangerous to assume practically anything. Try and know all you need to--and then some.
Peep Warren
Hi18-L
i like how gave importance to the value of information. i agree, information really is important with regards to this rule. Just as much, however, it also matters that you properly analyze the information that you gather. Wrong interpretation spells trouble just as much as blindly jumping into action does.
-Angelo Mendoza, His18-L
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