"THERE IS NO AVOIDING WAR; IT CAN ONLY BE POSTPONED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS"It definitely took me years to properly understand the full extent of Machiavelli's formula. [1]I was a little kid the first time I held a copy of 'The Prince' and the real meaning wasn't obviously self-evident to me. I just assumed that was only related to politics and warfare dynamics .And it's no mistake to state that's the way it was intended to be, on a superficial level.When I started playing chess though, I immediately realized that the formula expressed in the book could be applied to any conflict situation.We are constantly at war, with ourselves, with our decisions, our actions, our doubts and fears, and we are at war with the others, with the whole world, in a sense.Within human relationships, conflict is a state of nature.And war, as in facing the problem or adversity of the moment, whether that may be, can not and should not be avoided.Unless you want your opponent to grow stronger, and eventually, overcome you.Growing up, I think I've seen and experienced first hand a lot of this , - family, friends, working places are perfect examples where you can find those patterns.Noticing what most of the time happens within marriages, Jordan Peterson writes precisely:“Not thinking about something you don't want to know about doesn't make it go away. [...]Do you truly think is a good idea to retreat, to abandon the possibility of arming yourself against the rising sea of troubles, and to thereby diminish yourself in your own eyes?Do you truly think it wise to let the catastrophe grow in the shadows, while you shrink and decrease and become ever more afraid? […]If you shirk the responsibility of confronting the unexpected, even when it appears in manageable doses, reality itself will become unsustainably disorganized and chaotic. Then it will grow bigger and swallow all order, all sense, and all predictability. Ignored reality transforms itself (reverts back) into the great Goddess of Chaos, the great reptilian Monster of the Unknown – the great predatory beast against which mankind has struggled since the dawn of time.If the gap between pretence and reality goes unmentioned, it will widen, you will fall into it, and the consequences will not be good.Ignored reality manifests itself in a abyss of confusion and suffering.” [2]_________________________________________________________[1] Niccolò Machiavelli , THE PRINCE [2] Jordan B. Peterson, 12 RULES FOR LIFE

EXPHILO

existentialist philosophy

There is no avoiding War