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How did they accomplish the rarest of military feats?

coberst

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How did they accomplish the rarest of military feats?

The people, who made up Israel and considered for centuries to be non fighters, were surrounded on three sides and facing a far superior enemy “accomplished the rarest of military feats”, they shattered the enemy forces “within a given time and with an absence of blunder”.

Fighting that began in May of 1948 ended in January 1949 when an armistice was signed. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) realized that they had “won a state but not the peace”.

The major surprise was the performance of the “espresso” generation; given this name because they were considered to have discarded the traditional Jewish ideals while lazing about drinking espresso in the local cafes. It was this generation that, when challenged and well led, performed this “rarest of military feats”.

From what I have read there is a small (35%) absolute difference in the intellectual potential between extremes in normal humans. When we examine specific individuals we can detect a gigantic difference (1000%?) in accomplishment. When we compare Winston Churchill with the others we see this difference and when we compare the Israeli nation in this situation with other nations we see this difference.

The difference is illuminated not only when comparing one person with another or one nation with another but it is startling in the difference in accomplishment of humans in matters of technology versus matters of ‘reasoning together’.

We live in two very different worlds; a world of technical and technological order and clarity, and a world of personal and social disorder and confusion. We are increasingly able to solve problems in one domain and increasingly endangered by our inability to solve problems in the other.

Science solves puzzles. The logic of the paradigm insulates the professional group from problems that are unsolvable by that paradigm. One reason that science progresses so rapidly and with such assurance is because the logic of that paradigm allows the practitioners to work on problems that only their lack of ingenuity will keep them from solving.

Science uses instrumental rationality to solve puzzles. Instrumental rationality is a systematic process for reflecting upon the best action to take to reach an established end. The obvious question becomes ‘what mode of rationality is available for determining ends?’ Instrumental rationality appears to be of little use in determining such matters as “good” and “right”.

There is a striking difference between the logic of technical problems and that of dialectical problems. The principles, methods and standards for dealing with technical problems and problems of “real life” are as different as night and day. Real life problems cannot be solved using deductive and inductive reasoning.

In summary:

Humans differ greatly in achievement even though potential as measured by intellectual capacity is small.

Humans perform grandly in matters of technology but are wimps in performance in matters communication and reasoning together.


I find this to be a puzzlement? Do you have any answers?

Quotes from Practicing History by Barbara Tuchman
 

Athenian200

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If "Humans" were a person's name, I'd probably say: Humans sounds like an INTP with a large ESFJ shadow that they project onto everyone else around them. They probably need to look towards developing the qualities in themselves that they've neglected to address properly in their past development.

Since you're talking about humanity as a whole, though... it doesn't apply. Good luck figuring it out, though. :)
 

ptgatsby

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Humans differ greatly in achievement even though potential as measured by intellectual capacity is small.

Deviations add. Achievement is the addition of multiple traits and random events that together add to have very high deviations, not a single dimension, such as intelligence or capability. The story that is being told is not an example of this, either, without an analysis of factors. A simple difference in situations, such as not having a homeland then suddenly fighting for it, is known to have huge ramifications.

Humans perform grandly in matters of technology but are wimps in performance in matters communication and reasoning together.

Tribal psychology.
 

juggernaut

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How did they accomplish the rarest of military feats?

The people, who made up Israel and considered for centuries to be non fighters, were surrounded on three sides and facing a far superior enemy “accomplished the rarest of military feats”, they shattered the enemy forces “within a given time and with an absence of blunder”.

Fighting that began in May of 1948 ended in January 1949 when an armistice was signed. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) realized that they had “won a state but not the peace”.

The major surprise was the performance of the “espresso” generation; given this name because they were considered to have discarded the traditional Jewish ideals while lazing about drinking espresso in the local cafes. It was this generation that, when challenged and well led, performed this “rarest of military feats”.

From what I have read there is a small (35%) absolute difference in the intellectual potential between extremes in normal humans. When we examine specific individuals we can detect a gigantic difference (1000%?) in accomplishment. When we compare Winston Churchill with the others we see this difference and when we compare the Israeli nation in this situation with other nations we see this difference.

The difference is illuminated not only when comparing one person with another or one nation with another but it is startling in the difference in accomplishment of humans in matters of technology versus matters of ‘reasoning together’.

We live in two very different worlds; a world of technical and technological order and clarity, and a world of personal and social disorder and confusion. We are increasingly able to solve problems in one domain and increasingly endangered by our inability to solve problems in the other.

Science solves puzzles. The logic of the paradigm insulates the professional group from problems that are unsolvable by that paradigm. One reason that science progresses so rapidly and with such assurance is because the logic of that paradigm allows the practitioners to work on problems that only their lack of ingenuity will keep them from solving.

Science uses instrumental rationality to solve puzzles. Instrumental rationality is a systematic process for reflecting upon the best action to take to reach an established end. The obvious question becomes ‘what mode of rationality is available for determining ends?’ Instrumental rationality appears to be of little use in determining such matters as “good” and “right”.

There is a striking difference between the logic of technical problems and that of dialectical problems. The principles, methods and standards for dealing with technical problems and problems of “real life” are as different as night and day. Real life problems cannot be solved using deductive and inductive reasoning.

In summary:

Humans differ greatly in achievement even though potential as measured by intellectual capacity is small.

Humans perform grandly in matters of technology but are wimps in performance in matters communication and reasoning together.


I find this to be a puzzlement? Do you have any answers?

Quotes from Practicing History by Barbara Tuchman


Nope, we're just badass. :jew:
 

Mole

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How did they accomplish the rarest of military feats?

The people, who made up Israel and considered for centuries to be non fighters, were surrounded on three sides and facing a far superior enemy “accomplished the rarest of military feats”, they shattered the enemy forces “within a given time and with an absence of blunder”.

Israel was in touch with reality while the Islamic States were not.
 

millerm277

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Israel was in touch with reality while the Islamic States were not.

This is...in a way, true. The arab armies, were also not as strong in reality as they appeared on paper, were idiotic as far as coordinating forces between countries, and....

Fear of being driven into the sea and killed and losing what you've worked hard for...is a powerful motivator, and as history has shown many times, in warfare, the morale and determination of the army matters almost as much as their equipment and training.
 

Southern Kross

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This is...in a way, true. The arab armies, were also not as strong in reality as they appeared on paper, were idiotic as far as coordinating forces between countries, and....

Fear of being driven into the sea and killed and losing what you've worked hard for...is a powerful motivator, and as history has shown many times, in warfare, the morale and determination of the army matters almost as much as their equipment and training.
Exactly. But while I think the strong ideological fervor helped, I think it the outcome was strongly influenced by the survivors instinct.

After WWII the Israelis had really come to know what mattered to them, and where their hopes lay. They looked around at the friends and family they had left and did everything they needed to protect them. Individuals put all their hopes into things such as a small plot of poor farmland and did their best to make it something special. You look at the small scale battles that happened at each kibbutz - no one there thought about a greater war. All they thought about was protecting their fellow kibbutzniks and their piece of land. And this is why most of them succeeded.

And I think it wasn't so much that the Arabs were poor military stategists, I think the ordinary soldier didn't care enough about their cause. Sure there were extremists involved but most Arabs were forced to participate when it became a "with us or against us" situation. They weren't prepared to die for the cause. The Israelis had no choice but to fight to the very last.

I think to answer the question in general, necessity is the most powerful motivator of action in human beings. Without it, nothing is acomplished. Narrow the options and you will get a result.
 
S

Sniffles

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And I think it wasn't so much that the Arabs were poor military stategists, I think the ordinary soldier didn't care enough about their cause. Sure there were extremists involved but most Arabs were forced to participate when it became a "with us or against us" situation. They weren't prepared to die for the cause. The Israelis had no choice but to fight to the very last.

At a military history forum I post on, the issue concerning the quality of Arab militaries came up in the course of a wider discussion about what if the Cold War turned hot. Here's what one Russian member posted:
"My grandpa was among the two divisions of military advisors that were sent to Egypt, and he was of a very low opinion of the Arabs as soldiers - corrupt and elitist officers' corps that all but negated the effect of Soviet training and soldiers that hardly had a notion of what "disipline" was. He was inspecting AA rocket installation not far from the Suez canal and he would sometimes find the Arabs having siesta in the midday with no one staying on duty."

View Single Post - Could the Soviet's have won a conventional war in Europe

In the aftermath of the Six Day War, the Soviet military did conduct several studies into these issues as to why the Arabs did so poorly. They concluded that the Arab militaries did indeed lack significant discipline and failed to properly conduct themselves in accordance with the weaponry and tactics they were taught.
 

mortabunt

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The Israeli's could mobilize a huge number of forces, plus, they had a large number of NT commanders.
 

The Decline

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Israel was in touch with reality while the Islamic States were not.

I would prefer to say that Israel was in touch with Western countries and the aide that followed, but that's just me.
 

mortabunt

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OP, you need to look at Sun Tsu's Art of War. He says thaat when men stand on death ground, they fight with abandon. It means when you beleive you are going to die, you fight at your peak. The Israeli's stood on death ground, so they fought hard.
 
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