I’ve just finished reading an interesting piece from Ryan Holiday: This Is How Smart People Get Smart (And Fools Get More Foolish).
It covers a lot of ground – and is well worth a read – but it starts with a story about how the US Navy once sent one of their commanders to Stanford to study an in-depth course on Marxist theory.
The year was 1961, and all year this US Navy fighter pilot studied the works of Marx and Lenin. Just the primary sources. No criticism or analysis. Just the actual theories that true Marxists live by.
At a time when the greatest threat to the US was communism - and the ideological basis for communism was Marxism - the US Navy were footing the bill for university level courses in Marxism. Why?
Stockdale succinctly pinpointed the answer to this question in a letter he wrote to his parents that year:
“You really can’t do well competing against something you don’t understand as well as something you can.”
He unfortunately got the chance to prove that a few years later, as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. There he survived imprisonment, interrogation and torture, at least partly because he fully understood the mindset, ideology and strategy of his captors.
Stockwell claimed that at times it was clear he understood more about Marxist theory than his interrogators did, at one point telling one of his captors:
“That’s not what Lenin said; you’re a deviationist.”
And that, of course, is the crux of why we need to know our enemy. It’s hard to fight what we don’t understand, and almost impossible to argue against a position if we don’t even fully realise what that position is.
When writing for change, this is key to how we structure our arguments. Understanding the stance of the person we’re addressing allows us to not only speak their language and touch on their pain points, but also to predict and address their objections.
I’ve talked before about how vital it is to be kind to your readers, especially if they’re wrong, because realising how wrong you are is not only difficult, it sometimes involves challenging your current reality and giving up part of your identity. Fully understanding that identity allows you to effectively soften the blow.
Say you’re writing about politics. Maybe you’re trying to highlight the dangers of Fascism or Communism (which if you’re familiar with the concept of horseshoe politics can be very similar dangers). Or maybe you’re addressing anti-immigration ideologies, the patriarchy, incel culture, or white supremacy.
It’s vital to understand why the followers of such ideologies believe in them. What have they been told about this system? Why do they relate to and support it? And – almost always most importantly – what is the pain or lack (real or perceived) in their own life that this ideology promises to make better?
That’s where to start: most effectively – in many cases – with factual information, and statistics and clear, simple logic that’s difficult to argue with unless you really want to twist your brain into a pretzel.
With well-informed, well-researched, always-fully-cited information, facts and figures.
With a clear explanation, where possible, of the often complex set of circumstances that may actually be behind that (real or perceived) pain or lack.
Changing minds and hearts is hard. Preaching to the choir is often easier (and still valid). But if you truly want to inspire positive change, and have something to say on a topic you know well, don’t start writing until you’ve also researched the other side of the argument.
Knowing what you’re dealing with gives your work a new dimension, a higher level of impact, and a chance of creating real change.
Some thoughts from others I’ve been enjoying this week
15 questions to ask yourself to help you write articles that don't suck from
A Blunt Conversation About AI Writing from
One Substack Mistake I Wish I Could Take Back from
What else I’ve been up to this week
Listening to: August by Taylor Swift (always listen to this on the first and last day of August)
Reading: I Who Have Never Known Men
Enjoying: Coastal hikes, sea swims, cold cider and pub lunches
Recent Medium posts
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