Post by @condershou

note there are some caveats to this story: 1. zhao kuo was not a complete idiot. he was still known to be a smart guy, he just overestimated how transferable his theoretical knowledge was to reality. something the Qin somehow figured out. 2. Responsibility for the loss really falls to the king, he chose the wrong man for the job, destroying his own state from within 3. This is not saying theory and books are useless. Someone can have enormous theoretical knowledge and still be excellent. The problem is when they apply a theory mechanically without adapting to actual circumstances. what did you take away from this story?