Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.

The location makes the dwelling good.
Depth of understanding makes the mind good.
A kind heart makes the giving good.
Integrity makes the government good.
Accomplishment makes your labors good.
Proper timing makes a decision good.

Only when there is no competition
will we all live in peace.

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“Assume formlessness,” said Greene in his last chapter of the 48 Laws of Power. In fact, none of the existing formulas can work if you do not understand the subtleties of your situation and the timing that you should execute those plans. When the cold principles of power are applied to the letter without contemplation, you will be put in a disastrous situation. You cannot be that naïve.

In one of the above chapters, I took the example of technical analysis in the share investment market. If I remember correctly, there are algorithms developed by PhDs in computer science and mathematics that constantly learn the evolving stock market behaviors and precede, in anticipation of future behaviors, any other individual market participant. There may be patterns, but they are not perpetual. You must evolve with fluidity of water.

“Only when there is no competitionwill we all live in peace.”

Slingerland, who authored a book on the concept of wu-wei, asks in his book why science was not possible in China. If we remove competition entirely by following the above quote, there will be indeed no advancement in technologies.I cannot say that there was no “competition” at all in ancient China. China was even once in what we call the “Warring States period.”

It is clear that you cannot force people to stop competing against each other. It is ingrained in human nature. Look at the case of North Korea. This country is unlike any other contemporary society and is a brutal regime that kills down the very instincts of every member of the society. In this horrible, bizarre[]country, competition is banned by suppressing people’s autonomous market behaviors. This is no peace. This is equivalent to an ongoing experiment of total annihilation of basic humanity.

If peace ever arrives by doing no competition, this must be a case in which both competing states come to realize and agree upon that more competition will only bring about a ruinous result to both parties.

Arguably, a moderate degree of competition is beneficial. For example, instead of driving away competition from schools as in the case of a former US administration concerning public school education - which would lower students’ academic performance – we must allow students to aspire to achieve higher performance through competition – but not excessive competition.

“It gathers in unpopular places.”

The tao may not hesitate to stay in unpopular places and garner attention from the disadvantaged. Is this necessarily good? As much as far-fetched this sounds, I doubt whether a prostitute readily giving away the availability of her flesh to those willing to pay her money can in any good sense be called a good person.