Ideas and War

"We've been under attack by ideas, and we have been for some time." I told this to my minister friend from Deer Lodge back in January of 2016 on a phone call in the SUB.

To the layperson, this quote might not even mean much. It might even be a little bit confusing to some, but for me, this was a new line of thought at the time. I began to think at the time about the role of ideas in warfare, and how much agency or power certain ideologies have in their own right.

      I began to think of ideas as forces of nature. Powerful mental incentivizers and forces of the mind that galvanized humans into action and systemized people into hierarchies, movements, and organizations. To me, many ideas seemed almost willful, as if they were conscious forces in themselves, something akin to a spirit, or living information.

      This kind of thinking gets me in trouble occasionally, but I don't need to look much further than ideological movements and the formation of nations and societies to bear witness to the awesome power of ideas. 

      Whether ideas have will or just the appearance of agency, some ideas can be exceedingly powerful. Some can even start wars, and they often do. In fact, ideas are what leads the charge into and provides the foundation of the cause of warfare. 

    Ideas about race. Ideas about superiority or inferiority. Ideas about national identity. Ideas about government. Ideas about authority. Ideas about economics. Because of how these ideas have the potential to shape the lives and livelyhoods of millions of people, they are often contentious and conflict driving ideas.

     Ideas have their roots in language and often are deep-rooted in the imaginations and creativity of intelligent individuals who can develop and structure them.  

Ideas are, by default, constructs of information that have both abstract and concrete applications in reality. They are part of the mental foundation of the mind of a human being, along with language. As a result, ideas are a massive driving force of human behavior, creativity, and survival.

   Ideas have long had a strong relationship with war, not just in terms of the ideologies that provide the justification for war, but also the creative ideas involved with developing technology for war, creative strategy ideas, and spur-of-the-moment survival ideas implemented in the midst of combat by soldiers that increase the probability of success of operations and the probability of survival as well. 

War, like any other conflict, competition, or game, involves much mental skill and exertion, often even more so than physical skill and exertion, and ideas provide the foundation of the mind and mental activity. 

Creative ideation and innovation are essential in the development of the strategies and tactics of war. They also provide a core, essential component of the formation of the ideologies used to justify war. Ideas are only as limited as the imagination of the individuals who create and develop them. 

Good night friends.