-
According to [[Robert CH Chia]] and [[Robin Holt]], the [[Western]] tradition of [[war]] and [[debate]] go hand-in-hand. They point out that [[Francois Jullien]] shows that styles of open debate and [[open]] confrontation mimic a war of [[attrition]]. That is, the side with a [[surplus]] [[wins]]. Even though [[judgement]]s are made based on whether something is [[good]] or [[bad]], they are argued for based on what is [[more]] or [[less]]. A [[direct]] [[fight]] between positions with a long list of [[arguments]] decided by which [[compartmentalized]] [[events]] can be said to lead to an [[absolute]] [[good]] outcome is not the only way to make a strategic [[decision]]. Rather than trying to eliminate our [[competition]], we might let ourselves change with our competition. Since we often assign causes to effects, and pick individual events and people to [[reward]] [[fast]], there is something to [[resist]], something to [[block]]. There is something easy to resist, as in [[peasant resistance]]. An [[indirect]] approach can be [[silent]], invisible, and very [[slow]], so that it is difficult to resist. [[Loud]] [[direct]] [[action]] interrupts [[flow]], and so while it shows [[initiative]], it is an [[external]] initiative that often has to be [[force]]d. By intervening at a particular [[time]] and not all times, [[attention]] is attracted. That attention can result in an [[alarm]], for whatever [[local]] interests find the intervention [[disruptive]]. The intervention is [[rough]], [[harsh]], and [[cutting]] enough to let everyone register it as event- that is, like an [[anomaly]]. This gives us [[drama]], which we tend to want to [[justify]] our [[existence]], but it is not the most efficient way to [[win]]. Indirect, invisible [[change]], to contrast, is effective because it is constant and in the background, camouflaged by [[baseline]] [[movement]]s of everyday life.
-
The [[indirect]] approach happens through [[metis]], which can be [[listen]]ed to, but not [[command]]ed. [[Metis]] requires complete [[submission]] to whatever we are encircled by, so much so that there is no [[separation]] between what [[know]]s and what is known. With Metis, what is there is simply there, and changes. Metis is specific to one’s lineage, so the [[cunning]] of your [[lineage]] only works for your context. Metis is always on the [[move]], it [[flow]]s to take the shape of wherever it is. So in the [[shadow]] is it that lives in [[paradox]] and [[reversal]]. [[Metis]] is always on the [[edge]] of [[collapse]]. It is not indifference or [[nihilism]]: it merely influences from an unseen [[flank]], acting in the [[now]] rather than in a [[future]], so it is blind to [[reason]]. Using [[economy of force]], it will use anything that is there, including anything that would normally hurt an [[ego]] or require giving up an [[object]] of [[attachment]], such as a [[marker]] of [[success]].
-
[[Awareness]] that is constantly listening, ready to [[integrate]] [[contradiction]]. This kind of integration is part of where [[reversal]] comes from.
- The [[indirect]] approach is characterized best when it achieves a strategic [[aim]] through simply [[being]], instead of any particular [[intervention]].
-
An alternative to dramatic [[intervention]] is [[suspension of judgement]], a [[balance]] of [[curiosity]], [[metis]], and [[common sense]] that allows a [[flow]] with [[life]], as opposed to trying to interrupt that flow with events. This kind of suspension does does not [[define]] or [[categorize]] anything in the world, except to join things, as a [[wave]] receding back into the [[ocean]].
- The [[art]] of the [[general]] is to nourish [[life]] by being a part of the [[flow]] of life, not from cutting one [[self]] off from life to to build a [[top-down]] [[map]] of [[knowledge]]. This kind of [[strategy]] is to [[join]] with [[movement]], rather than to [[cut]] things apart or [[control]] them by stopping them. This strategy rests in [[emptiness]]. It feeds [[life]] without trying to make it fit an [[expectation]]. Good [[strategy]] is [[invisible]]. This contradicts the incentives in any [[commerce]]-influenced environment, where the emphasis is on being distinct, as in a seller hawking wares at a [[market]].
- People tend toward dramatic [[intervention]] because they are looking for praise- for [[glory]]. If they gain glory, they may use it to build a structure to [[control]] life with, an [[institution]], a pillar to resist [[life]], much like a tower in coastal waters attempts to resist the [[sea]].