/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13529026]

>just be unpredictable bro
now i'm unstoppable

[Anonymous No.13529756]

Unironically this book has some extraordinarily good advice, especially if you can get a copy with commentaries by other old Chinese generals. They give alternative perspectives on it, rephrase Sun Tzu in different ways, and so you get a much better sense of what he's talking about.

But it's best to apply the lessons to one's life.

>fight when you know you will win
Pick and choose your battles. Take on projects you know you can finish. Do the things that are best for you in every moment, that will give to you more than take.

>be unpredictable
In ideological warfare, deny your foe the satisfaction of seeing you fall into any stereotype. Hide emotion. Allow them to become emotional while you are immovable. Occasionally throw in a wrench so as to confuse your foe, for example, to be kind to somebody you hate.

>feed off of the enemy
Obtain resources where they are easy to come by so that you can free up your more necessary resources for your endeavors. As an example, most things boil down to time, and so it is better to do things that free up more time for you so that you can accomplish what you want. Also helps to pass off unwanted/shitty tasks to people you hate at work so that you're free to do things that make you look smart in front of the boss.

[Anonymous No.13529787]

>>13529026
At the time it was revolutionary, now it is old news. It's also filled with a lot of meme advice about moon phases and the like. No longer worth the read for anyone who has been exposed to basic strategy

[Anonymous No.13529805]

>>13529787
basically this
play only one good video game and you've internalized the entire book

[Anonymous No.13529832]

>make yourself invincible
Put yourself in a position where you can't be hurt, and remain there until you find a way to make a decisive strike. Legally speaking you could live completely within the law and wait for somebody that's attacking you to slip up, while you bait them with opportunities to lash out or do illegal things.

>the use of signalling is necessary to make maneuvers
Communication and establishing lines of communication is by far one of the most necessary things when trying to work as a team. I can't say how often my company tends to fuck up jobs because nobody's talking, because there's no established protocol.

>when you outnumber your foe 10 to 1, give them a way to flee so that they will retreat, so that their formation can break and you can ride them down
When trying to finish off a foe, handing them a way out that completely disrupts their schedule will allow for them to be 'defeated' for the day and will cause chaos for the next few days.

I recently had a housemate that got evicted thanks to some serious Art of War maneuvers, where I willfully withheld some information about the landlord desiring to evict a bitch, so that the other housemates would stand up and do something about it (thanks to their ignorance in believing that the landlord wasn't going to do anything). So now the bitch has a restraining order put on her, and she was forcibly evicted by the cops since she lives in the same house as the restraining order filer.

The eviction had to happen. The lady was a grade A bitch.

To make a long story short, I first chose to minimize contact with her so that I didn't waste time on her bullshit (screaming at all hours of the day or night, constantly touching/stealing other people's stuff), and decided to not get into shouting matches with her. I made sure to record her on my phone when we would talk so she wouldn't be tempted to do anything illegal like threaten me, and so 'made myself invincible' by ensuring that I was completely within the law and had a continual stream of evidence as to what she was doing. She was always on much better behavior when I was recording.

I made sure to 'feed off the enemy' (or in this case, my housemates) by withholding info so that they would make a move instead of me since I was too busy to try to hit up the courts. So they did all the difficult work, not me. Their court date was on Monday, they had to skip work and everything but I didn't.

The use of the anti-harassment order by the roommates was an example of only fighting a fight that I knew I could win. Since I just moved into the house I didn't have nearly as much evidence for the bitch's shenanigans but the rest of the roommates did, and so their attacks were a lot more decisive.

The whole experience was like Game of Thrones but better, because it was in 3d. I understand why thots did petty stuff in High School now.

[Anonymous No.13529847]

>>13529832
Amusing story. Do you have a lot of experience with that kind of situation?
For some reason I always only run into extremely decent people, which might be for the best given how meek I am. Still it's strange that I know many people who have to face jerks on a daily basis, while I never had to.

[Anonymous No.13530102]

>>13529787
>>13529805
Agreed. I feel like I learnt more about strategy and reading others thoughts from playing League of Legends than I could possibly learn from any book.

[Anonymous No.13530158]

>>13529026
it's not about being unpredictable, it's about doing things that won't be predicted

[Anonymous No.13530172]

>>13530158
it's hard to convey irony over text

[Anonymous No.13530215]

>>13529756
This. Reading one directionless translation with minimal commentary is useless.

[Anonymous No.13530343]

>>13530102
Yeah but you had to burn out your dopamine receptors to learn something you could have just read.

[Anonymous No.13530669]

>>13529756
Oh really, and where exactly has any of this gotten you? You're a fucking 9-5 wagecuck.

[Anonymous No.13531260]

>>13530343
I haven't played in years, I think my dopamine receptors are fine.

[Anonymous No.13531306]

>>13530669
Nigga you probably still live off your parents shut the fuck up

[Anonymous No.13533022]

>>13530669
actually imma third world war mongorer that thanks to this book is on his way to conquering west africa

[Anonymous No.13533188]

>>13529026
genuinely the hardest I've laughed at a thread in a long time, maybe because I knew a nerdy Asian kid in high school who would frequently cite this book and told people to never let your enemy understand your motives.

bless his heart

[Anonymous No.13534505]

>>13529026
just be yourself

[Anonymous No.13534802]

>>13531306
At least I'm not wasting my life wagecucking