May 9, 2020
choke points
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choke points
The law of unintended consequences
The law of unintended consequences
I don’t often apologise to the government of the People’s Republic of China but I confess I have been somewhat sceptical about their sincerity when it comes to cutting carbon emissions. But apparently they are trying. The government laid down strict limits on the amount of energy that could be used in various provinces. But when lockdown ended, there were a lot of orders to fulfil and a big…
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On Choke Points.
On ‘Choke Points’
It occurred to me whilst in what I excuse for a garden enjoying the morning sun, that one of the most universally human phenomena that we encounter in our everyday lives is also one of the least articulated in my experience. We speak often of ‘bumps in the road’, ‘limiting factors’ or ‘areas of friction’ but never of the overarching genotype that these problems and concepts stem from. In my view this overarching edifice is best exemplified by the strategic term ‘choke point.
A choke point in practical military terms is characterised by the meeting of two comparatively open areas - or areas in which sight and manoeuvres are unobstructed – by an area or passage that has myriad limiting factors that make those passing through the problem area significantly more vulnerable than they were in either of the positions approaching or leaving the area. No more perfect and significant of an example of this concept can be seen than the (in)famous stand of the Peloponnesians at Thermopylae in 480 BC; wherein a vastly inferior Greek force held against a much greater foe for an impressive amount of time using the choke points named Thermopylae; Hot Gates, before the enemy managed to circumvent this choke point and flank the defending forces.
The way choke points work is to compress available active area into a much smaller space than is available elsewhere. In the case of Thermopylae this was between the Malian Gulf (a water hazard) and treacherous mountains. Much like how sand in an hourglass must pass a grain at a time through the smallest part of the passage, if soldiers wish to engage an enemy held up in a choke point they must approach as the choke point allows; typically in much smaller columns than would be ideal for an effective ancient field army. This means that defending forces can force equal or advantageous engagements by channelling larger forces into manageable numbers. This is particularly effective when we see enemy cavalry, whose strengths lay largely in manoeuvre and speed- made useless in limited space.
We all know the story of Thermopylae so I’ll leave the example for now, but we can see here that the understanding of the nature of choke points is an essential part of a general officer or field marshal’s skills; that of analysing and using geography. This is also one of the oldest recorded virtues of a military leader, since we see extreme attention paid to geographical ability in Sun Tsu’s writings, which predate all military treatise that I’m aware of. (please correct me if this is wrong, I’d love more to read)
My understanding and application of this knowledge to civilian life is essential to the way I make my own life more efficient. If we can apply this knowledge without feeling constrained by context I feel that a greater understanding of how time and effort can be applied will be revealed to us. Choke points are witnessed in areas of work and social ability frequently. They are characterised by a transition from ease and flow through difficulty into more ease and flow toward a goal. This would be easily exemplified by someone who doesn’t know the rules of a sport. The conversation could begin easily by talking about sport, with the aim of learning more about the other participants or advancing one’s respect socially via intelligent discussion of a mutual topic. The choke point may be characterised by a member being unsure of the rules of the sport discussed or preferring a different team to the other participants. Suddenly there is a block in the progress that requires address. Either the errant member can continue on a current course, ‘grinding through’ the friction at the choke, or he can retreat into open area by turning conversation away from this specific area, or he could advance through a different avenue. Grinding through would be synonymous with an extended attritional battle, in which the participant defends his ideas and forces through stubbornness a progression away from his resistance through to an easier conversation topic. This obviously would cause the others to view him as abrasive, would cause them to avoid that topic etc so obviously there is more to lose than gain by simply ham fisting your way through every choke point. Retreat obviously surrenders the goal in favour of avoiding loss or pyrrhic victory and is always an option unless the friction follows you, in the context of aggression from enemy forces (or a friend jibing about you not knowing what they’re talking about) but is clearly more intelligent than attempting to win via force of will. The final choice is almost always preferable; to attack not where the enemy is strong. To speak of something related, akin to marching with the same goal around a different route, to arrive at the same place. If I were faced with a choke point on golf I could use the relevant terrain of wrist and arm movement to attain the same goal as attempting to force through.
Obviously this example assumes the person doesn’t want to just wait and learn instead of being active, but passiveness in war helps little and so I’m ignoring this aspect.
We see choke points in at hand in work also. The pot washers who are limited by the time and capacity of a dishwasher may circumvent this choke point by forcing more dishes in at risk of loss, or may decide to wash by hand what the dishwasher cannot currently take etc. The examples of this aspect of human nature at work are myriad and banal but I’m sure that my point has been exemplified excessively by this point.
So often I find myself pensive and dumbstruck, staring at a problem and willing the geography of this particular battlefield to reveal itself to me without probing to discover. I find this to be a great personal flaw and one I am remedying by writing as I do. This begs the question of course of what personality of strategist we arrive at ourselves. I know men who are every bit Rommel, The Desert Fox who would run his enemy ragged and avoid being caught in a choke point at any opportunity, instead they wait for the problems to become as easy to deal with as they will be, striking each problem as it reaches the depth of it’s trough rather than aiming for efficiency. I know also men who are General Zhukov; analysing problems and striking them with full force and pinpoint precision, focussed and awful in the way they identify goals and strike toward them with brilliant tenacity and explosive force.
I find often that at my best, and my worst I am Hannibal Barca. I know my goals, vague though they are, and I know exactly where they are. My problem is the great walls of Roma and the men guarding them. I can and will blow through the lesser problems I’ve encountered dancing around aims, financial crises and homelessness all ambled through as though they affected me little. My truest flaw is analysis. The morbid fear of becoming not Hannibal but Pyrrhus, wasting myself attacking problem after problem that I am unable to face properly before succumbing to my own hubris. Of course we know Occam’s Razor and thus I will myself to bring my siege to bear and attempt the grinding work that will someday see me standing on the senate floor, but every barbed arrow flung at me from the walls reminds me of just how far I have to fall.
Flowered analogy aside, I find the concept of Choke Points vital in understanding how best to tackle the strategy of how to take life to war, and I suspect that this topic of military strategy used to understand concepts in human life may arise again in future writings.
Thank you for reading this ramble, expect more.
Dylan.
5 Tips for a Moving Surveillance
5 Tips for a Moving Surveillance
THE UTAH GUMSHOE WITH 5 TIPS FOR A MOVING SURVEILLANCE
You have to be constantly scanning the horizon ahead of the subject. If they’re approaching a stop light you’ll need to increase or decrease the distance between you and the subject and be prepared to either slow down and stop or speed up and sail through the green light with them. You have to speculate as to what they will do and then do…
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Pivot to Asia
By Group August 2 of 2014
Europe: This is good …. http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/01/the-unanswered-questions-of-mh17/
N:
Yes, excellent and relevant article. Couple of things…pivot to Asia, lies, harassment, threats of force, character assassinations, instilling global hegemony, creating choke points with intent to disrupt commerce, are more consistent with the acts of a criminal mafia than…
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So how about them choke points.