Item: "Limitations of 5GW"

	Blog Post published by Curtis Gale Weeks on August 2, 2005
	Site: Dreaming 5GW
	Permalink to original: "Limitations of 5GW"

(Originally appeared on the defunct blog Phatic Communion)

A blog post that considers fifth generation war waged against whole societies:  what features should be considered?

• Would small 5GW forces be able to defeat a large and complex society, given that a large society is also comprised of many smaller sub-sets or groups?
• “[I]f attacking the intelligence is the primary modus operandi of the 5GW force, that force would need to be, er, quite intelligent indeed in order to have any hope of success.” The attacker “would need an extraordinary understanding — a fundamental comprehension — of the targeted society or force.”
• Because of the complexity of a large society, the 5GW attacker would need to attack [the intelligence of] the most influential members within that society who could then influence large portions of that society; but many others would not be so easily fooled:  “the disenfranchised, the sub- and counter-cultural groups — in short: those who do not subscribe to the worldviews shared by most members of that society.”

Conclusion:

1. The 5GW attacker would “need to influence the majority and the leaders of that majority, or indeed create a majority will”; but
2. “the oddball [disenfranchised] elements of a society are more likely to be sensitive to changes in the majority opinion than those who hold the majority opinion” and are therefore quite likely to realize something is occurring.

Early introduction of the idea of “canaries in the mine” during fifth generation war:  oddball or disenfranchised elements within a society may act as signals that a 5GW is occurring.

Moreover: Those odd elements within a society might raise a defense against the 5GW attacker, but their defensive efforts may therefore seem to target the dominant elements of a society which have been influenced or co-opted by the 5GW attacker. The dominant elements, blind to the 5GW, may only see that they are being attacked by members of their own society; thus civil war may ensue — or is it possible that a main operation of 5GW that targets a whole society would be the instigation of civil war within that targeted society?