at a fundamental level, the man's rite of passage is defeat of the enemy, in self-defense. sometimes the enemy is our environment, sometimes it's an army of barbarians, and sometimes it's a legal attack. "the pen is mightier than a sword" - that is true, because a pen can mind-control you into submission by bluffing.

Sun Tzu wrote that "all warfare is deception." he also wrote "know thy enemy."