Douglas Adams described the crux of warfare and “negotiation” in one of his stories. The hill people and mountain people would occasionally fight a war – on the plains, of course. The plains people would send someone to find out why there had to be a war and why it had to be fought on their lands. An ambassador would be sent and after two days of being wined and dined, he would hear a long, detailed explanation of historical grievances and dialectic inevitability. He would feel he understood it quite well. However, by the time he got home, all he could remember is that it had seemed like a good reason but the details no longer made any sense.
Douglas Adams described the crux of warfare and “negotiation” in one of his stories. The hill people and mountain people would occasionally fight a war – on the plains, of course. The plains people would send someone to find out why there had to be a war and why it had to be fought on their lands. An ambassador would be sent and after two days of being wined and dined, he would hear a long, detailed explanation of historical grievances and dialectic inevitability. He would feel he understood it quite well. However, by the time he got home, all he could remember is that it had seemed like a good reason but the details no longer made any sense.