Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advantage wins wars?

Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by tharne on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @03:39PM (#31019238)

> Is there a book about how a technological advantage wins wars?

Probably not. There are loads of examples of less technologically advanced groups defeating more advanced opponents (or at least forcing them to give up). A few examples:

- Vietnam against the French, then the Americans

- Afghanistan against the British, the Soviets, and the Americans

- Haiti against the French

- America vs. the British

- Germanic Barbarians vs. the Roman Empire

- IRA vs. the British

Some writers (Gladwell comes to mind) have even suggested that the opposite is true, namely that the number of times a more technologically advanced power has been defeated or at least held off by a less powerful, less technologically advanced opponent is actually much higher than one would expect looking simply at the capabilities of each party involved.

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by richardreeze on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @03:51PM (#31019404)

This is an interesting point, and I like having these examples so I can study each one :) Thanks!

Although in one of these cases I think they lost because they didn't want to use their technological advantage. e.g. America losing to Vietnam because they didn't want to nuke them, even though the technological advantage was clearly there (i.e. they lost due to morality).

Edit: Do you know where Malcolm Gladwell talked about this? Would love to read it.

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by tharne on Thursday April 14, 2022 @04:07PM (#31032576)

He wrote about it in: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by muzani on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @08:51PM (#31022169)

Zulus didn't win against the British, but the huge technological gap was impressive. It's a good analysis of tactics and psychological warfare too.

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by richardreeze on Thursday April 14, 2022 @02:58AM (#31024102)

You're talking about this war right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zulu_War

Is there a book that goes deeper into the tactics and psychological warfare?

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by muzani on Thursday April 14, 2022 @06:18AM (#31025027)

Yup. It was covered in a chapter of The 33 Strategies of War, Robert Greene, but not the entire details of that war. It might be what you're looking for if you want a broad guide.

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Re:Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advanta... by farseer on Thursday April 14, 2022 @12:31AM (#31023418)

These examples are the exception, not the norm regarding the underdog winning the war.

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