As humans develop their own individual norms, that help them function efficiently in their environment based on their interests, they will invariably incorporate them into their social group. If these norms serve the group well they may become social norms that members of that group follow. As new members enter the group these social norms are imparted on them, and any norms that they may bring with them could be suppressed if they are not compatible, or adopted if beneficial. Members who leave the group take those norms with them to other groups, effectively spreading ideas throughout regions. Over time, as they establish complex societies their social norms, which have provided them the guidance necessary to thrive, help to identify them as a distinct subset of humanity that differentiates them from other groups just as much as their own racial and ethnic uniqueness might.

These unique aspects of groups are what develop as culture, and therefore these social norms become cultural norms when applied to these subsets of humanity. Merriam-Webster defines “culture” thusly:

From these definitions, be it either from the main social group (the culture) or the sub-social groups (subcultures), you can see the process of how their perception of the universe around them have shaped their norms and produced a shared understanding for how things should be; values, beliefs, attitudes, etc. In this aspect, the development of culture is merely the difference on how our progenitors perceived their specific environment, determined norms specific for their capacity to survive and thrive, and developed, shared, and incorporated these norms amongst a large group of similar people who then passed it onto future generations. Those future generations who witnessed changes to their environment, and therefore adapted to their situation, saw their norms evolve with the times. This means that cultures change with time, and is not a static concept frozen in a particular period. Its norms will be shared, and they will be appropriated by other cultures if they are compatible and desirable, because in the sense of these social norms, if it contributes to the betterment of the group then why not adopt it; much the same way species evolve, so too do cultures.

The following hypothetical situation may be a little crass, but bear with it as it helps the previous point. Imagine a time in the past where your pre-historic ancestors were mere roving bands of hunters and gatherers. They may have had a habit of defecating and urinating anywhere they so desired. At times this would become a health concern as their waste may have contaminated their local water sources or their food making them sick. As they moved to new locations they would return to health; the result of a new water source and fresh food, but then back to poor health as the group brings it unhygienic norms along. In their travels they come across another group of humans, and thanks to both groups not immediately bashing each other in the heads with rocks, they strike up a rudimentary dialogue with each other through body language and simple guttural noises.

During the engagement, your ancestors may have tried to relieve themselves by the water source of their new friends only to be accosted by them. This new group appears to have been able to recognize the relationship between human waste, sources of nourishment, and illness, and have developed a norm in which you mustn’t defecate and urinate in the vicinity of your food and water. The value of this norm is apparent and is appropriated by your ancestor’s social group. Knowing this pattern they begin to see variations and develop new norms associated with it. They have fecal matter on their hands when they eat so now they use receptacles to gather water and cleanse their hands away from their water source. Health is further improved. New people come into the group are now required to cleanse their hands as well. It becomes the norm, because it is for the betterment of the group.

As time progresses, and technology adapts and evolves in this manner, then so do these norms. Defecating on the savannah becomes defecating in a hole, then the hole surrounded by screens to cordon of the act from others, then there may or may not be apparatuses to assist the defecator in the action. Holes become outhouses, become running water toilets, become fully-functional toilet/bidet hybrids with heated seats and scented water for your posterior. It is the same concept with other norms. People communicate with body language, then develop spoken language, then develop written language, then develop more effective methods for delivering information with spoken and written languages, and now you have music, movies, plays, newspapers, magazines, receipts, transcripts, journals, and books; to include every military tome and business guide in existence, even this one.

People sacrifice certain freedoms by being a part of a social group. On the threat of punishment, ostracization, or loss of social standing individuals agree to follow the norms either by compliance or through compulsion. They do this in order to benefit from the added security these norms provide to their interests; improved societal health, reliable sources of goods and services, and socially-funded resources to name a few. Norms can become laws and regulations in which the group has identified as being of the utmost importance for compliance for the betterment of all.

Be it formal or informal social norms, humans engage in these types of social contracts in order to create an environment of trust and security which is to their benefit. This is what the philosopher Thomas Hobbes referred to as a “contract” or “covenant” in that people will agree to some restrictions, in this case, social norms, in order to reap the benefits of the system. We now refer to this as “contractualism.” Respect a neighbor’s property and privacy and they will do the same for you. An individual pays their taxes and the state furnishes firefighters, police, and military to safeguard the citizen’s life and property in case of fire, theft, and invasion.

These are norms at the extreme end of the social contract spectrum, things that are enforced by the group, but the informal norms are still social contracts of themselves. In a group of two people eating at a restaurant if the first person paid the check-in full during the previous meal they shared then it might be expected that the second person will pay in full for this meal if possible. If the second can pay, but chooses not to, or requests separate checks, then the first person may feel insulted or consider the other to be stingy in breaking the unspoken social contract that they shared. This may result in the first person avoiding sharing meals with the second in the future, thereby breaking down a potentially beneficial relationship, by failing to follow through on a social norm. Again social contracts, which are social norms, require individuals to sacrifice a certain amount of freedom in the present for a greater amount of benefit in the future.

Imagine a hypothetical situation in which many culturally different households return home to have a family meal. A Japanese family may remove their footwear as they enter their home. A Christian family may pray before the consumption of the meal. An Arab family may avoid using their left hands when touching their food. An Indian family may never consume beef products. An Italian family, lastly, may spend their entire meal, hours, just discussing how their days went. Compare the ways they conduct themselves to that of an agnostic American family that keeps their shoes on while at the table, and who hold their hamburgers in their left hands because their cellphones are glued to their right.

Has the fundamental intent of the endeavor, the communal meal, changed? No, this social group, a family, has pooled its resources together, and have ensured its members received adequate nourishment for effective survival. Everything else is simply a difference in social norms that have adapted over time as the result of an environmental benefit to do so. It must be noted that the family meal itself is also a norm, as everyone could just provide for themselves, and there is less of an impetus to come together nowadays for a meal than there was in the past. That being said, you could logically see how this type of norm, the sharing of food, would be beneficial to the longevity of our ancestor’s bloodlines as it increases the chances of survival for every member. This is why, therefore, all cultures share some form of communal meal activity.

At this point, as the reader you may be asking yourself, “Why do I need to be aware of differences in cultural norms?” “How does this help the analysis of military theory, and the development of effective business strategy?” Well, simply put, the great military leaders and martial theorists are themselves products of their time period and culture. We, therefore, can find aspects of this in their writings and in their actions.

As we mentioned, the social norms that our ancestors followed were important in their time and place, but may not be applicable in today’s society. Norms do evolve after all. The student of military theory, however, needs to be able to differentiate what may be a kernel of truth about the human condition of conflict and that of what may only be a manifestation of societal norms.

For example, in the Liu Tao, which can be translated as the Six Secret Teachings, King Wen of the small state of Zhou planned to partake in a hunt, and had his scribe conduct divination in order to assess how well the hunt would go. The scribe returned to inform him, allegedly, that he would meet a wise man who would be able to provide him the guidance necessary to defeat the decrepit Shang dynastic king, and usher in a period of virtuous rule over the land. Prior to this heavenly arranged meeting, however, the scribe asked the King to observe a three-day vegetarian fast to prepare, which King Wen did. He would indeed find a man of worth, Jiang Ziya, and took him in as his strategist.

Later on, as King Wen was assessing the future of his people he inquired to Jiang Ziya about how to “preserve the state.” What the King was seeking was knowledge about the conditions in which some nations collapse, or are conquered, while others persist and thrive. As Jiang Ziya states in the Liu Tao:

“ ‘You should observe a vegetarian fast, for I am about to speak to you about the essential principles of Heaven and Earth, what the four seasons produce, the Tao of true humanity and sagacity, and the nature of the people’s impulses.’  The King observed a vegetarian regime for seven days, then, facing north, bowed twice and requested instruction.”

Now for 11th Century B.C.E. China, the observance of rites to ensure proper harmonious balance in the world would have been expected. King Wen had to prepare his mind and body in order to both undertake that calling to seek out a man of worth, and effectively receive the heavenly guidance that he would then impart. Failing to do this particular social norm, by their perception of the universe, would have caused a disruption to that relationship between Heaven and Earth. For them, this connection was of paramount importance for it controlled the aspects of everyday life.

In their second discussion, entitled the Martial Secret Teaching, of the Liu Tao the King saw the suffering of the people under the Shang and inquired as to when would be the right time to conduct a military campaign against them. Jiang Ziya said in response:

“You should cultivate your Virtue, submit to the guidance of Worthy men, extend beneficence to the people, and observe the Tao of Heaven. If there are no ill omens in the Tao of Heaven, you cannot initiate movement [to revolt]. If there are no misfortunes in the Tao of Man, your planning cannot precede them. You must first see Heavenly signs and moreover witness human misfortune, and only then can you make plans. You must look at the Shang king’s yang aspects [his government], and moreover his yin side [personal deportment], and only then will you know his mind.”

From their perspective, it is easy to see that the following of these norms is important to their society. Whereas many believed that an imbalance between Heaven and Earth, as a result of maleficent governments, would result in natural disasters, famine and other forms of misfortune there was also a very tangible non-heavenly consequence. As shown by the actions of the state of Zhou you can see the beginnings of what would soon be open revolt, human conflict, as a resulting effect of natural disasters and human suffering attributed to the Shang. While the origins of ancient Chinese rituals, some of their earliest complex cultural norms, may not be fully understood it is logical to presume that they served the purpose of making a more efficient government that focused on applying “Virtuous” policies that were beneficial to all subjects within these massive Chinese social groups.

In contemporary Chinese society, not to mention other cultural clusters throughout the world, these norms are not followed, however, you may invariably see aspects of these ancient norms in their evolved forms here in the 21st Century. You will find, in traditional rural areas of China, the importance of birth year zodiacs on the future prosperity of their children. You will have families that either hold off on having children, or induce labor early, in order to ensure those children are born under more favorable zodiacs. Even in some business circles you will see major Chinese companies hire astrologers to provide guidance in the development of yearly business strategies.

In the Zulu culture of southern Africa their traditional belief system was based around the worship of ancestral spirits and the dynamics between the activities of spirits and those of the living. In the Zulu society, witchdoctors were employed heavily to root-out bad spirits by identifying or “smelling out” the living individuals responsible. The culprit would usually be an individual accused of some serious crime to include acts of witchcraft. Much like in early Christendom, many Zulu would unabashedly use the institution to deal with competing members of their society in order to gain from their loss; usually in cattle. The Zulu king, Shaka, and his successors would use witchdoctors as a means to leverage effective control over the populous while maintaining spiritual immunity from being “smelled out” themselves.

Zulu spiritual beliefs would be carried on through their post-battle activities. When a human dies and their body begins to decompose their bellies start to putrefy as bacteria begin to eat away at the intestines. The process builds up a large quantity of gas inside the body and the stomach begins to inflate as a result. As the gas escapes the body through the mouth, posterior, and any opening created through putrefaction, noises can be heard. While this process can take a week or two, the heat of Africa can speed the process along to just a few days. Upon witnessing these natural events, the Zulu and the greater Bantu ethnic group assigned spiritual connotations to them.

They believed the bloating and the noise of the escaping gas was the spirit attempting to leave the body. They feared that if the spirit was trapped for an extended period of time then it would eventually turn maleficent, and spread misfortune. To prevent this, Zulu would disembowel the dead in order to free the spirit. Naturally, they provided this service to their enemies be it other tribal warriors, Boer settlers, or British Soldiers in order to prevent widespread evil after the conclusion of a battle. This is a cultural norm done out of what the Zulu people saw as a necessity, but what the British, unfamiliar with the intent of the ritual, saw as a savagely disrespectful act that would create much animosity during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. After the Zulu’s eventual defeat, and the subsequent chaotic infighting, the strength of the Zulu culture, after being forced to abandon many of their more “barbaric” customs, would slowly wane.

As War Is My Business progresses into the actual analysis of military leaders and their history, we will invariably encounter evidence of cultural norms being utilized. We will seek to properly identify these norms and let the reader now of its meaning as separate from norms that may be universal to all human conflict. They may not be overtly omitted, because those cultural norms do indeed have an impact on conflict whether outside observers ascribe to those norms or not. You may not believe in astrology, certain religious tenets, or archaic forms of early scientific understanding, but make no doubt about it they were influential in their time. If armies of thousands of men believe the planets are aligned in their favor, or if they believe they are blessed by the heavens, then at the very least the resulting confidence in victory will have an impact on their morale and capacity to wage violence against others. Perception, whether accurate or illusionary, has an impact on human action and can’t be ignored.