Human Behaviour

Tactics are used by people on people and critically they must anticipate how other people will behave or respond. Therefore it is essential that the tactician also understands human behaviour. The great tactician out-thinks his or her opponent. Most tactics are designed to manipulate or manoeuvre other people in a waythat is advantageous to the tactician.
Today, many people believe that our modern society is no longer subject to the desires and behaviour patterns that controlled the lives of thousands of previous generations. It comforts them to believe that a technology-rich environment saturated with information and education will somehow elevate people to a higher state-of-mind that washes away the very desires, beliefs, instincts and fears that form the basis of natural human behaviour. They are wrong.

SOME GENERALISATIONS
Thousands of people throughout history have tried to explain human nature and establish logical, or at least plausible, reasons for why humans behave as they do. Genetics, learned responses, tribalism, survival of fittest and so forth have featured often. However, what many of these researchers fail to do is actually compile these common behaviour patterns into a concise summary that applies to most people. As a rule, the greater the understanding of human nature, the more likely you are to devise successful strategies and implement effective tactics. The psychology behind human behaviour can be useful but it is not essential – but knowing how humans are likely to behave in any given situation is vital.
Put another way, I don’t need to understand how a car’s engine works in order to drive the car – just what buttons to push.