From one thing, know ten thousand things.

[simonm]

This was taken from Harry's signature as I don't quite understand it.

How, exactly, can we know ten thousand things from one thing?

For that matter, how can we even know two things from one thing?

OK, I can see how we might know three things from two things (if the two things can be logically conjoined to produce the third) but you could argue that the third is already implicitly known when just the two things are known.

So then, Harry (or anyone else), care to explain it?

[chrismitchell]

Its probably just some more of Harrys interesting gibberish!

[simonm]

I would imagine that he sees it as an enduring pearl of wisdom but I am not convinced.

[NotLKH]

Originally posted at http://www.readingplace.net/philosophers/musashi.htm
Miyamoto Musashi


Selections from A Book of Five Rings

(Go Rin No Sho)



The Way is shown in five books concerning different aspects. These are Ground, Water, Fire,Tradition (Wind), and Void.



The body of the Way of strategy from the viewpoint of my Ichi school is explained in the Groundbook. It is difficult to realise the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground, the first book is called the Ground book.



Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. Water has a clear blue colour. By the clarity, things of Ichi school are shown in this book.



If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from one foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done. The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things. Things of Ichi school are written in this the Water book.



Third is the Fire book. This book is about fighting. The spirit of fire is fierce, whether the fire be small or big; and so it is with battles. The Way of battles is the same for man to man fights and for ten thousand a side battles. You must appreciate that spirit can become big or small. What is big is easy to perceive: what is small is difficult to perceive. In short, it is difficult for large numbers of men to change position, so their movements can be easily predicted. An individual can easily change his mind, so his movements are difficult to predict. You must appreciate this. The essence of this book is that you must train day and night in order to make quick decisions. In strategy it is necessary to treat training as a part of normal life with your spirit unchanging. Thus combat in battle is described in the Fire book.



Fourthly the Wind book. This book is not concerned with my Ichi school but with other schools ofstrategy. By Wind I mean old traditions, present-day traditions, and family traditions of strategy. Thus I clearly explain the strategies of the world. This is tradition. It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others. To all Ways there are side-tracks. If you study a Way daily, and your spirit diverges, you may think you are obeying a good way, but objectively it is not the true Way. If you are following the true Way and diverge a little, this will later become a large divergence. You must realise this. Other strategies have come to be thought of as mere sword-fencing, and it is not unreasonable that this should be so. The benefit of my strategy, although it includes sword-fencing, lies in a separate principle. I have explained what is commonly meant by strategy in other schools in the Tradition (Wind) book.



Fifthly, the book of the Void. By Void I mean that which has no beginning and no end. Attaining thisprinciple means not attaining the principle. The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When youappreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. I intend to show how to follow the true Way according to nature in the book of the Void.

'Course, Specifically, The one thing could be www.google.com.

[simonm]

I suppose what this guy is really getting at is not actually knowing ten-thousand things from one thing but knowing how to apply one thing in ten-thousand different ways, which is slightly different.

Or maybe I'm just nitpicking...

[HarryW]

That's not really the point, Simon.

The point is, by fully understanding and internalising the most basic principles, all the complexities that involve a multitude of things can be understood also.

The principles stay the same. The details are numerous and ever-changing.

[Nucleus]

Does it mean that for every one hour study I do, it translates to 10,000?

[HarryW]

Um, no

[Nucleus]

Damn.

[HarryW]

If you lead your life the way Miyamoto Musashi did, though, I can pretty much guarantee your teacher will be too scared to fail you

[simonm]

Harry

The point is, by fully understanding and internalising the most basic principles, all the complexities that involve a multitude of things can be understood also.

Do you mean like from knowing the "theory of everything", you could explain any phenomenon in the physical universe?

Know the fundamental principles of life and everything else can simply be inferred?

Sounds good (also sounds a little bit like what Christians believe they are doing with the bible).

by the way, I'm not attacking your philosophy here, just a little harmless questioning...

[HarryW]

Yes, that's more or less the way I read it, but it's open to interpretation I suppose.

[simonm]

Perhaps you should change you quote to read:

"From one, special thing, know everything else".

That "special" thing being the theory of everything.

[HarryW]

That's not really what I think it means. It's more general than that. It's not about the ToE, it's applicable to many different things in life, and it's something I have found myself doing (to some degree) for many years before I came across the quote.

It's also worth noting that there is an oriental phrase, "the ten thousand things," which roughly means, "everything in the world."

[Kzin]

Originally posted by simonm
This was taken from Harry's signature as I don't quite understand it.

How, exactly, can we know ten thousand things from one thing?

For that matter, how can we even know two things from one thing?

OK, I can see how we might know three things from two things (if the two things can be logically conjoined to produce the third) but you could argue that the third is already implicitly known when just the two things are known.

So then, Harry (or anyone else), care to explain it?

Ok - here is an example - if you say Maxwell's laws you can predict thousands of detailed things about the universe. These seem to some people 'trivial' as a genius has actually done the hard work of formulating the "one thing" and any dodo can do the "knowing ten thousand". Likewise 'knowledge' of how simple building blocks of nucleic acids fit together we can build up a deep (but delimited) understanding of life, its potentials and inter-relations.

Oh - one thing BTW - it doesn't say from one thing know ANY ten thousand things - the many are linked to the few in very specific ways.

[simonm]

Kzin

Oh - one thing BTW - it doesn't say from one thing know ANY ten thousand things - the many are linked to the few in very specific ways.

Well, that's not what Harry said:

Orignally posted by Harry
It's also worth noting that there is an oriental phrase, "the ten thousand things," which roughly means, "everything in the world."

[HarryW]

Simon, I said that was worth noting, not that that's what the saying meant.

My feeling about what it means, or at least what it means to me (which is all that matters as far as I am concerned), is basically the same as what Kzin suggested.