IT IS SOMETIMES WISE TO SIMULATE MADNESS I have learnt from my private life. Machiavelli also reminds us about this in his Discourses over ten books by Titius Livius. I also read about this strategy in Thomas Schelling’s book The Strategy of Conflict (1960) I have seen this Madman strategy in two divorces in my family, an lately I have met the strategy again in my work in the arts. The other player is trying to act like mad in order to “psyche you out”. By using strong or seemingly confused language or using anger, this may prevent the opponent from stating his or her views views or his/her cause, because doing so is an unpleasant and threatening experience which also creates uncertainty. Richard Nixon used this strategy during the Cold War in relation to the Soviet Union and when he wanted to force the North-Vietnamese to negotiate. Putin’s recent strategy in relation to what is happening in Ukraine and on Crimea can be interpreted in different ways. It can also be analysed in terms of the Chicken game from game theory:
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 13:04:38 +0000
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