“To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the height of skill.
To subdue the enemy without fighting is the height of skill.”

Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

During his campaign against the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great reached what is today Afghanistan and laid siege to a fortress located on the Sogdian Rock. This fortress was considered impregnable due to its sheer inaccessibility. When Alexander demanded that the defenders surrender, they replied mockingly that he would need “men with wings” in order to take the fortress.

Alexander waited for nightfall and sent 300 men to climb the rock. Of those 300, 270 managed to reach the top, while 30 perished. The number of climbers was, of course, insufficient to actually take the fortress—each of them would have faced roughly a hundred defenders. However, these soldiers signaled their presence by waving their own underwear so that the defenders could see them. At the same time, Alexander announced to the people inside the fortress that he indeed possessed “men with wings.”

The psychological effect of this move was so devastating that the defenders surrendered. The fortress was taken without a single battle, and its inhabitants were sold into slavery—despite the fact that, in reality, Alexander had no practical means to conquer it by force with the resources at his disposal.

This example of psychological warfare, though ancient, reminds us how crucial our psyche and self-control are, and how much can depend on them. We do not need to be defenders of a fortress to require composure and mental resilience. Every conflict of interests we take part in presupposes this. Of course, spiritual and psychological strength should not be glorified in and of themselves, because the fact that someone is strong and seasoned does not necessarily mean that they are defending a just cause.

Often, when someone cannot be persuaded in any other way—to submit, to yield, to refrain from reacting, and so on—the suggestion of having no choice is employed. Manipulators persistently instill determinism and a sense of hopelessness. Their positions are presented as the outcome of inevitable and unavoidable processes, with the aim of crushing and pacifying the spirit of their opponents.

Phrases such as:

• “That’s just how life is,”
• “There’s no point,”
• “This is the future,”
• “The outcome is clear,”
• “It’s only a matter of time,”

and the like, are used to suggest that the manipulator’s claims are not mere suggestions or opinions, but established facts.

These phrases are also frequently used in public discourse, most often to instill in people the belief that even if they dislike the direction in which the world is moving, there is nothing they can do about it. This relies on the individual’s suggestibility, emotional instability, and impressionability, as well as on weak character, lack of will, and the abandonment of critical thinking.

Fear and cowardice within the individual are faithful allies of manipulators.

Our best safeguards against all this are our reason, our will, and our fundamental principles—our system of values.