Strength in Numbers

When I think about a large crowd that is almost ineffective compared to just one big almost-unbeatable person, I think about two extremes that are much further apart than what Pro imagines. He thinks about Bruce Lee an Chuck Norris against 1000 men, but I think about a heavily armed man with grenades, a machine gun, and metal armor around his body. Now that's what i call ALMOST-UNBEATABLE. The 1000 persons are unarmed. Their punches and kicks can't get to him behind that armor, and most of them will be killed by the bullets anyway, plus the grenades will take out many of them at a time. If he has a flame torch all he needs to do is spin in a circle and light them on fire. I imagine most of them will run away. So no, I don't consider knowing martial arts enough to classify Chuck and Bruce as almost unbeatable, but when armed far above their opponents, then such a description is justified. To defeat such an almost unbeatable opponent, the 1000 men would have to be smart. But then that would mean they were not almost ineffective to begin with. See I imagine almost ineffective versus almost unbeatable to be putting a fool against a wise man. Knowledge overcomes numbers any day. An army may have ten times more men, but the smaller army may have one genius who invents a weapon that guarantees victory without having to fight. Had the atom bomb been dropped on Hiroshima at the beginning they need not have been a war. The geniuses behind America's weaponry were actually just a few in comparison to the armies of their opponents, but even if they opponents outnumbered them, having such unbeatable genius would still make them victorious. Our numbers outnumber a hurricane when it comes, but look at the destruction that hurricane does to our nation? Have we ever stopped a hurricane? No. If a huge asteroid bigger than the earth comes at us at fast enough speed, despite our numbers and all the may missiles we have it will still end our world. So if you are big enough, strong enough, and smart enough, it doesn't matter how much back up your opponent has. If one billion caterpillars launched an attack against a pest control company with just 100 workers, they would loose. A plane could spray a chemical overhead while all employers wore special suits and masks, to kill all the caterpillars. A gas could also be released throughout the building. Just one pest control guys kills entire rat colonies because he is smarter. So my opponent just isn't factoring in the true definition of ALMOST UNBEATABLE. Even with Pro's illustration of the fish, just imagine a school of flying fish trying to take on a great white shark. That shark would snap large numbers of those tiny fish in his mouth, and a quick turn in a circle will lash many other small fish and send them hurling about in confusion. They couldn't really puncture the shark's thick skin. And even if they confused him, being a faster swimmer than they are the shark could eat some and swim away from the crowd, come back and eat some more, separating his prey from the school as he descends. So I don't see little fish winning this one at all. Now Pro talks about more hands mean better multitasking to get the job done in less time, and he compares 15 men breaking into a maximum security prison to Iron Man doing the same job. But all Iron Man has to do is scan the place, fire his missiles to blast a hole where he wants to get in, and all the guards bullets will bounce off him in the meantime. That would take a lot less time than the 15 men who aren't as smart as Iron Man to invent such scanning technology and have to spend time stealing the blueprints to begin with, have to spend time creating distractions, and trying to hack security codes with are encrypted with extremely long digit code by minds just as smart or smarter than the guys trying to break in. Even if they do hack the security feed they may still get caught in a gun fight, and unlike Iron Man who is covered all over, bullet proof vests won't protect their heads, feet or arms. So I don't see their multitasking will take less time, and being more technologically advanced actually makes the multitasking unnecessary in the case of Iron Man. Now just imagine with it were 1000 men trying to break in, versus Superman trying to break in, who would get it done faster? Superman of course. He is faster than a bullet and made of steel. Gulliver was taken down by the Lilliputs because he wasn't trying to hurt them in the first place. "In the novel, Gulliver washes up on the shore of Lilliput and is captured by the inhabitants while asleep." http://www.google.com... In comparison, when Gulliver was awake, the very numerous Blefuscudian fleet is unable to defeat him. "He offers his services to the Emperor of Lilliput in his war against Blefuscu, and succeeds in capturing the (one-twelfth sized) Blefuscudian fleet." http://www.google.com... So size does matter. Remember Godzilla? Humans were only able to finish him off by using nuclear bombs, which has nothing at all to do with numbers, but intelligence. The more intelligent person, the one who builds the bomb and own a plane to drop it, will win the war against the thousands in the city where the bomb hits. Look at how many soldiers faced Godzilla and failed. Look at how many humans died at the hands of General Zod in Man of Steel. Only Superman could match him. In Pro's last argument he says "it is hard for one person to come up with multiple creative ideas at a time, but it is not quite as difficult for multiple people to create multiple creative ideas at a time." I disagree. A single doctor who has studies medicine for years can come up with more ways to keep sick people alive in the wake of a natural disaster, even without all the hospital equipment and medication, than 1000 average people who don't have this knowledge. A man who has PhDs in Marketing and Advertising, plus many years working experience, can come up with more realistic marketing schemes and advertising plans for a product than a hundred men with little education. An economist can think up many more rational ways to run a country than a 1000 men who never studies how different sectors of the economy work and fit together. A single wise man is a lot better off than a 1000 fools. Whom do you rather be stranded with in a dessert? Many fools, or a few smart people? You are lost in the jungle and facing predators like lions, snakes, bears and wolves. Who has the better advantage to help survive and beat the odds - three soldiers with survival skills who know a lot about animals, medicine, and making weapons, or 100 fools who know nothing about the wild?