abadidea
The difference between my English and Chinese copies of The Art of War never stops being funny.
PolyWolfthe cover design isn't at all inappropriate; the original intended audience was not (as many modern people suppose) experienced, battle-hardened lords who wanted to refine their technique to perfection, but twelve-year-olds who were gonna inherit daddy's army one day and needed it hammered into their heads "look Junior, I know that food has always just magically appeared on your plate without you thinking about where it came from, but if you don't take care of the logistics of feeding your army they will literally kill you and bring the enemy your head as a peace offering"
✧✦Catherine✦✧@0xabad1dea i found it quite funny how many of silicon valley's biggest thinkers found the art of war spiritually profound. like, they're sort of the target audience but not for the reasons they think
David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)I read it in my late teens and thought it didn’t contain anything that was non-obvious (aside from a few things that were just plain wrong). I assumed that was because it was written so long ago that everything in it was general knowledge by then, but understanding that it’s written for spoiled noble children makes a lot of sense.
OwOday@whitequark @0xabad1dea they were also mostly ayn rand lovers I think?
Kirtai 🏳️⚧️
DJGummikuh@0xabad1dea for real??
@DJGummikuh yes. the original Classical Chinese is pretty simple and straightforward (if it is your native idiom; it's very thou-sayest-thus to modern Chinese readers) and largely common sense, including "have you considered NOT going to war? it's usually the dumbest thing you could do"
@0xabad1dea very interesting! I never read Sun Tzu, but my illiterate understanding was always that this was a collection of wisdom of scholars for scholars.
Annelies Kamran, Ph.D.@DJGummikuh @0xabad1dea Clausewitz's On War is more like that (although even that isn't exactly deep!)
Dana Fried@0xabad1dea @DJGummikuh and yet there are adults (mostly in the US government) who could still very much benefit from this advice.
(The counterpoint, I suppose, is that they're all spiritually twelve.)
CavyherdAnd also they don't have a reputation for being open to, you know, informed advice.
StoneBear 
@0xabad1dea ... so I got it right for audience, but not the purpose... Huh.
apophis@0xabad1dea even despite seeing this post first before the images this did Not prepare me for the contrast lol
Tinchocongruent@0xabad1dea do you know if the Thirty-Six Strategems or the Books of Swindles get the same treatment?
@tinchocongruent I’ve definitely seen kiddie editions of 36 stratagems. don’t know if I’ve seen Swindles