By Paul Weiser
One principle derived from Colonel John Boyd's life- work on conflict is that (as Robert Coram put it in Boyd) "whoever can handle the quickest rate of change, survives." Though the observation originally refers to air combat, its mention of survival suggests broader application.
In air combat, advantage accrues to the pilot who can transition most rapidly - at best, seamlessly - from one maneuver or flight regime to the next. This was observed in the Korean War, where American pilots flying the otherwise less capable Sabre generally defeated opponents flying the MiG-15 because the Sabre could shift quicker, with minimum effort, from maneuver to maneuver. Likewise the German "Blitzkrieg" bypassed resistance and achieved its designated objectives in 1940 by shifting at will between schwerpunkt (assault/concentration) and aufrollen (infiltration/dispersal).
But consider survival. Its most cliched usage is in Darwinian "survival of the fittest," that is, evolution of species. Later evolutionists were forced to introduce "saltation" - sudden bursts of rapid evolution between long periods of slow or nonexistent change. In a saltation episode, it's the most adaptable, quickest, invasive species that survive and prosper.
But Darwinian is not the only form of evolution. Where it relies on randomly-acquired traits passed on to offspring by survivors, Lamarckian evolution posits characteristics acquired during the individual's life in response to environmental situations; these are then passed on. Lamarckian evolution is genetically incorrect, but defines the primary form of societal/political evolution because many changes occur by intent and are passed on as precepts.
So what is quickness in Lamarckian evolution? The making of many observations and rapid codification into precepts. This is the superiority of democracy over autocracy (everyone's observations matter), and of republic over democracy (representative order trumps mob chaos in codifying and disseminating effective precepts). Liberty is survival; life is liberty.
None of Your Lib (NOLIB) is a weekly column, appearing
each Monday. Email responses and requests
to Paul Weiser
- be sure to specify in the body of the message that
your mail is to NOLIB. Some past articles are in the
NOLIB archives, and you are also invited to
visit
my home page. All responses
are appreciated,
and may be incorporated into succeeding columns in whole
or in part unless the sender requests otherwise. And of
course, the opinions expressed are those of the columnist and
may
not reflect the views or opinions of gte.net.