Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

In Patterns of Conflict he also employs the Second Law by stating that one of the key elementsof victory consists of:Diminish own friction (or entropy) and magnify adversary friction (or entropy) 184 .Boyd thus regarded the Second Law as another “producer” of uncertainty on a par with theprinciples described by Gödel and Heisenberg. In Destruction and Creation he asserts thatConfusion and disorder are also related to the notion of Entropy and the Second Law ofThermodynamics…Accordingly, whenever we attempt to do work or take action inside sucha system - a concept and its match-up with reality - we should anticipate an increase inentropy hence an increase in confusion and disorder. Naturally, this means we cannotdetermine the character or nature (consistency) of such a system within itself, since thesystem is moving irreversible toward a higher, yet unknown, state of confusion anddisorder 185 .Strategy, creativity, doctrines and mental modulesA second obvious parallel between systems theory and Boyd’s work is in the importanceBoyd attaches to creativity, the availability of a multitude of mental modules and thenecessity to constantly improve existing mental modules. Devising strategy as an act ofcreativity and the ideas armed forces operate on -doctrine - or in Boyd’s word, orientationpatterns, are like mental modules. Boyd’s entire starting point of Destruction and Creation is asearch for way we form - create- mental models or “mental concepts”, as Boyd labels them.His investigation begins with the question ‘how do we generate or create the mentalconcepts to support [this] decision making?’ 186 . Elsewhere Boyd employs the termOrientation as an equivalent of mental models. In 1987, Boyd elaborated on the element ofOrientation of the OODA loop by asserting thatOrientation, seen as a result, represents images, views, or impressions of the world shaped bygenetic heritage, cultural traditions, previous experiences, and unfolding circumstances 187 .In Destruction and Creation he advances the notion that for creating relevant mental concepts,we need to heed the warnings of Polanyi, Kuhn, Gödel, Heisenberg and the dynamics of theSecond Law. The following examples, again from Boyd’s presentation Organic Design forCommand and Control also reflect this concept:Orientation is the Schwerpunkt. It shapes the way we interact with the environment - henceorientation shapes the way we observe, the way we decide, the way we act.Orientation shapes the character of present observation-orientation-decision-action loops -while these present loops shape the character of future orientation.184 Boyd, Patterns of Conflict, p.184. Note how Boyd uses the Clausewitzian term concept of friction notin the mechanical sense, as Clausewitz did, but in the thermodynamical sense, indicating that for Boydfriction refers to disorder.185 Ibid, pp.12-13.186 Destruction and Creation, p.3.187 Organic Design for Command and Control, p.13.118