Friday, November 1, 2019

day no. 14,984: the interplay of science and art in warfare

"Various aspects of war fall principally in the realm of science, which is the methodical application of the empirical laws of nature. The science of war includes those activities directly subject to the laws of ballistics, mechanics, and like disciplines; for example, the application of fires, the effects of weapons, and the rates and methods of movement and resupply. However, science does not describe the whole phenomenon. 

An even greater part of the conduct of war falls under the realm of art, which is the employment of creative or intuitive skills. Art includes the creative, situational application of scientific knowledge through judgment and experience, and so the art of war subsumes the science of war. The art of war requires the intuitive ability to grasp the essence of a unique military situation and the creative ability to devise a practical solution. It involves conceiving strategies and tactics and developing plans of action to suit a given situation."

In order to win wars, you must have knowledge and creativity. You must engage the interplay of principles and practices, maxims and methodologies, tenets and tactics.

With respect to warfighting, you must have the scientific ability to develop technology and the creative foresight to compel you to further technological advancement combined with the technical knowledge of how the machinery works and the creative ability to maneuver the tools available in unexpected and overwhelming beauty.

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

The same is true in Biblical counsel. One must possess knowledge of the wisdom the Bible conveys first and foremost, but then one must have the creative, artistic ability to draw those timeless truths to the exact point and time in which they are needed. The words we speak should be chosen from the Words God has spoken, which requires intimate familiarity with His entire counsel, but it also requires creative nuance and strategy. We must know what words to say, in which order and at what intervals in order to deploy them most strategically and efficaciously. 

Our words should fit the occasion we are in. We do our best counseling when we find timely wisdom drawn from the well of timeless truth.

"We thus conclude that the conduct of war is fundamentally a dynamic process of human competition requiring both the knowledge of science and the creativity of art but driven
ultimately by the power of human will."

At the end of the day, knowing God's Word and having the creative capacity to know what to say still requires someone to say something. Someone needs to read their Bibles, meditate upon it, read the person sitting across from them, think about them and then speak.

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