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

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however is not much different, but even more in focus. In fact, Boyd re-visits his essay,reformulating the same argument, confirming the findings once more, but now employingillustrations from science, engineering and technology, all of which Boyd conceptualizes asself-correcting mechanisms (or systems, or OODA loops indeed). These fields and theillustrations Boyd derived from them, would be much more familiar to the general audience(although Boyd expressly included sections to convince his audience they were actually quiteignorant) than the philosophical essay. Indeed, The Conceptual Spiral must be considered theequivalent of the essay, but now offered in a more easily accessible format, and inappearance less philophical. The themes are familiar too:pervasive uncertainty as prime characteristic of life,the essence of combining analysis with synthesis, marrying induction and deduction,the importance of novelty, mismatches and creativity,and the requirement to combine multiple perspectives to form adequate orientation patterns.The title itself hints at the core argument, which in part can be traced back to the work ofPiaget: survival mandates reveling in a continuous conceptual spiral of induction anddeduction, of creation and destruction.FocusBoyd starts with the familiar move. First he states the prime focus of the presentation:To make evident how science, engineering, and technology influence our ability to interactand cope with an unfolding reality that we are part of, live in, and feed upon 81 .And the answer will come, he suggests, from revisiting and exploring the following keypassage from the ‘Abstract’ 82 :…the theme that weaves its way through this ‘Discourse on Winning and Losing’ is not somuch contained within each of the five sections, per se, that make up this ‘Discourse’, rather,it is the kind of thinking that both lies behind and makes-up its very essence. For theinterested, a careful examination will reveal that the increasingly abstract discussion surfacesa process of reaching across many perspectives; pulling each and every one apart (analysis),all the while intuitively looking for those parts of the disassembled perspectives whichnaturally interconnect with one another to form a higher order, more general elaboration(synthesis) of what is taking place. As a result, the process not only creates the ‘Discourse’but it also represents the key to evolve the tactics, strategies, goals, unifying themes, etc., thatpermit us to actively shape and adapt to the unfolding world we are a part of, live-in, andfeed-upon.The reason for including this section, Boyd says, is ‘it suggests a general way by which wecan deal with the world around us’. It is tempting to see the echo of Piaget in Boyd’s wordswhen he next asserts that he will show that 83 :81 Boyd, The Conceptual Spiral, p.2.82 Ibid, p.4.83 Ibid, p.5.260
By exploiting the theme contained within this passage and by examining the practice ofscience/engineering and the pursuit of technology we can evolve a conceptual spiral forcomprehending, shaping, and adapting to that world.Simple minded messageThe subsequent section aims to illustrate and substantiate this hunch. The first step isoffering the audience a new view on the nature of science, engineering and technology. Boydgives three preliminary definitions in the terms that makes them conceptually comparable toeach other:Science can be viewed as a self-correcting process of observation, hypothesis, and test.Engineering can be viewed as a self-correcting process of observation, design and test.Technology can be viewed as the wherewithal or state of the art produced by the practice ofscience and engineering.IllustrationsThis raises the question, according to Boyd, what the practice of science, engineering and thepursuit of technology has given us or done for us. The answer lies in four slides Boyd showsthe audience with a total of 57 entries of persons, teams or companies and their specificcontributions to science, engineering and technology. Once more manifesting a remarkableerudition, as well as substantiating the idea that Boyd was aware of the scientific changes ofhis time, the purpose of this list is to show how all are related through a most pervasiveelement both Piaget, Polanyi and deBono had discussed: novelty through mismatches 84 :Examples from EngineeringSome Outstanding ContributorsContributionsWright Brothers (1903)Gasoline powered airplaneChristian Hulmeyer (1904)RadarV. Paulsen/R.A. Fessenden (1904/1906) Wireless telephoneJohn A. Fleming/Lee De Forest (1904/1907)Vacuum tubeTri Ergon/Lee de Forest (1919/1923)Sound motion pictureUSA – Pittsburgh (1920)Public radio broadcastingAmerican Car Locomotive (1925)Diesel – electric locomotiveJ.L. Baird (1926)TelevisionWarner Brothers (1927)Jazz singer/sound motion pictureGermany/USA (1932/1934)Diesel-electric railwayBritain/USA/Germany (1935-1939)Operational radarGermany/Britain/USA (1935/1936/1939)Television broadcastingHans von Ohain/Germany (1939/1939)Jet engine/jet airplaneEckert & Mauchly (1946)Electronic computerBardeen & Brattain & Shockley (1947)TransistorAmpex (1955)Video recorderJ. Kilby/R.Noyce (1958/1959) Integrated electric circuitT.H. Maiman (1960)LaserPhilips (1970)Video cassette recorderSony (1980)Video camcorder84 Ibid, pp. 9-12.261
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Science, Strategy and WarThe Strate
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We are survival machines.Richard Da
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CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION............
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Introduction.......................
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1. INTRODUCTIONTo flourish and grow
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testing of the decision selected by
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momentum and tempo, which in combin
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tracing the history of war Boyd saw
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in general. Referring to Karl Poppe
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constitute an argument about strate
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2. ON STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC THEORY
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its internal make up and the dynami
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strategist’s task is not to creat
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must be holistic, paying due respec
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Such a division can also be discern
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sensibility that would be capable o
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Why strategic theorizing is difficu
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truth is independent of human belie
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policy, is policy’ 107 . Subseque
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of systems of thought which will gu
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Science and Strategic TheoryDominan
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the major intellectual currents tha
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friction, which is infused with the
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3. THE SEEDS OF A THEORY AND THE FE
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Slowly his writings matured. In 196
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This situation also reflected the d
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at the cost of airspeed depletion)
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and air power theorists are notably
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Lawrence wrote Liddell Hart that fo
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The Indirect ApproachThe foregoing
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in weakening the opponent’s will
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standing in a direct theoretical li
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perfect information, so Chapter 9 r
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According with the enemy is the ass
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preconceived battle plan depends up
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mental or moral, instead they aim t
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calculation, based on the assumptio
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Turbulent environmentThis convictio
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the introduction of the M1 Abrams t
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campaign with which it was most com
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The debates resulted via the improv
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emphasized being more responsive, a
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4. SCIENCE: BOYD’S FOUNTAINKnowle
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The list exceeds 20 pages. Indeed,
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counter-culture. He had read severa
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Popper’s Evolutionary Epistemolog
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species. Finally, theories, unlike
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discovery’ 39 . ‘We have here t
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for failure and an encouragement fo
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investigated and a change of the ru
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Paradigm shiftBeyond NewtonIn the p
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philosophical aspects, Prigogine an
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uncertainty in another “conjugate
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The link between thermodynamics and
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As Ludwig Bertalanffy noted, the gr
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assessing deviation from coursecoun
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the system by the environment or ot
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A slightly more complex model from
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implementation of the right program
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The model below shows this process
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The process of learning, and the pr
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Positive indicatorsNegative indicat
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In Patterns of Conflict he also emp
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progressed and developed a new lang
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advances in knowledge, adaptation,
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TraditionalReductionismLinear causa
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exist only because they are open. T
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Concentration of chemical ANew stab
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It preserves the web-like pattern o
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Orientation shapes the character of
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either. The edge of chaos is where
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The final region is the boundary be
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Levels of adaptationThis naturally
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Operate inside adversary’s OODA l
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Organisms which are internally cons
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The last mentioned feature implies
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mathematics, in short chaos and com
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Such efforts have lead to suggestio
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processes are maintained simultaneo
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Boyd’s views on command and contr
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Several of these ideas surface in B
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problems they seek to comprehend or
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ehavior in reaction to what the oth
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sciences, which he termed a new int
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egulations, orders, and other means
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as focus for military planning on t
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A Discourse and the scientific Zeit
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Sharpening our mental capabilities
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perceive it’ 184 . By trying to c
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Ensure a large variety of conceptua
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The main intent of the effort is to
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e true. Thus tested and refined, it
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particulars or we can start with th
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inconsistencies may emerge to stifl
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although not exact1y -- since the u
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eality 29 . As indicated earlier, t
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He then incorporates a section of t
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Attack enemy’s plans as best poli
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planning process which included var
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Boyd does not find fault with these
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oth methods the same processes seem
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strategic planning in light of the
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gauged all the conditions indicated
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Blitzkrieg disrupts the connections
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- a medium to realize superior inte
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Only the fourth condition relates t
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Shape and exploit crises environmen
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penetrate an adversary to subvert,
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Page 222 and 223: In light of his previous observatio
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Page 226 and 227: This then leads to the second wrap-
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Page 230 and 231: dimension on the behavior of a stra
Page 232 and 233: Theme for Disintegration and Collap
Page 234 and 235: Strategic AimDiminish adversary’s
Page 236 and 237: ApplicationRevisiting Sun Tzu, rein
Page 238 and 239: The general underlying idea of Coun
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Page 242 and 243: destruction and creation to his inv
Page 244 and 245: Boyd’s inspiration also came in p
Page 246 and 247: The Big O: Orientation.The ensuing
Page 248 and 249: implicit cross-referencing process
Page 250 and 251: Magnify adversary’s friction and
Page 252 and 253: This differs from traditional views
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Page 256 and 257: General SurveyIn this section his i
Page 258 and 259: city, however, the situation is qui
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Page 262 and 263: So Boyd discerns within the adversa
Page 264 and 265: On isolation and interactionPhysica
Page 266 and 267: The Art of Success:Shape or influen
Page 268 and 269: The meaning of strategy and the art
Page 272 and 273: Examples from EngineeringSome Outst
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Page 280 and 281: The real OODA loop270
Page 282 and 283: This relates the OODA loop clearly
Page 284 and 285: for a process of learning, of evolv
Page 286 and 287: thing any system is constantly faci
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Page 290 and 291: 8. CONCLUSIONThe history of science
Page 292 and 293: found himself in. To Sun Tzu Boyd a
Page 294 and 295: strategy. He elaborates on several
Page 296 and 297: ehavior, demonstrating the value of
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Page 300 and 301: That social scientific knowledge, o
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Page 304 and 305: The reflexive nature of modern soci
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Page 310 and 311: all point at the changes the techno
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Page 316 and 317: This will affect war and warfare:
Page 318 and 319: Athena’s Camp. They see swarming
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commanders to improve their decisio
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Military War Beyond Military War No
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schemas. Gell-Mann developed the id
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extent in the novel approach for th
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ANNEX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PATTERNS O
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LeBoeuf, Michael, “GMP, The Great
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Wolf, Eric R., “Peasant Wars of t
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Bartolomasi, Paolo: ‘The Realitie
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Cohen, William S.: Report of the Qu
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Fukuyama, Francis: The Great Disrup
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Hughes, Daniel: ‘Abuses of German
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Lewin, Roger, and Birute Regine:
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Murdock, Paul, ‘Principles of War
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Rosenau, James, N.: ‘Many Damn Th
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Walt, Stephen M.: ‘Rigor or Rigor
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