# Connections From Hammond's "The Mind of War" - Col John Boyd **URL:** \ **Category:** Marine Safety\ **Created:** [November 10, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412 "2020-11-10T12:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/1 "2020-11-10T12:31:56Z")
This is one of my favorite books. Focus on operations not business or finance. A useful read for management level mariners. The USMC manual [MCD1 - “Warfighting”](https://www.amazon.com/WARFIGHTING-Marine-Corps-Doctrinal-Publication/dp/1557423091?tag=gcaptaincom-20) follows Boyd very closely. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/e/e/eea2e3238aefd4e31900c9fc135df01c65b56155.jpeg) Books are sort of like nodes in network, some are more or less dead ends while other have many connections like the trunk of a tree branching out. This book branches off in many directions. I ran into an article the other day about the computer language LISP (“List Processing Language”) and this quote by the developer of LISP John McCarthy: > [Intelligence](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Intelligence) has two parts, which we shall call the epistemological and the heuristic. The epistemological part is the representation of the world in such a form that the solution of problems follows from the facts expressed in the representation. The heuristic part is the mechanism that on the basis of the information solves the problem and decides what to do. Very similar to Boyd’s OODA Loop, Observe: > The epistemological part is the representation of the world in such a form that the solution of problems follows from the facts expressed in the representation. Orient: > The heuristic part is the mechanism that on the basis of the information Decide: > solves the problem and decides . Act: > what to do ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/2 "2020-11-11T13:12:32Z")
Two very different paths arriving at the same place. > **John McCarthy** (September 4, 1927 – October 24, 2011) was an American [computer scientist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_scientist) and [cognitive scientist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_scientist). McCarthy was one of the founders of the discipline of [artificial intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence).[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCarthy_(computer_scientist)#cite_note-1) He co-authored the document that coined the term “[artificial intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence)” (AI), developed the [Lisp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_(programming_language)) [programming language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language) family, significantly influenced the design of the [ALGOL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL) programming language, popularized [time-sharing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-sharing), invented [garbage collection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)), and was very influential in the early development of AI. By contrast Col John Boyd: > Boyd enlisted in the Army Air Corps on October 30, 1944, while still a junior in high school. After graduation, he completed his **basic training and skill training as an aircraft turret mechanic** during the waning months of [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II). From January 1946 to January 1947 Boyd served as a swimming instructor in Japan. He attained the rank of sergeant, and served in the Air Force Reserve until graduating from college. He graduated from the [University of Iowa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Iowa) in 1951 with a [Bachelor’s degree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree) in economics[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist)#cite_note-1) and later earned a second bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the [Georgia Institute of Technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Institute_of_Technology) (“Georgia Tech”).[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist)#cite_note-:0-2) Where McCarthy uses: > the representation of the world in such a form that the solution of problems follows from the facts expressed in the representation. Boyd uses: “Observe” Hammond’s book, _“The Mind of War”_ is like this throughout - Boyd took on some tough problems but his explanations and his thinking are very down-to-earth. ---
**Author:** ![Sirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@Sirk](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sirk)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 10:02am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/3 "2020-11-23T10:02:51Z")
> [@Connections From Hammond's "The Mind of War" - Col John Boyd](#): > > This is one of my favorite books. Focus on operations not business or finance. A useful read for management level mariners. The USMC manual [MCD1 - “Warfighting”](https://www.amazon.com/WARFIGHTING-Marine-Corps-Doctrinal-Publication/dp/1557423091?tag=gcaptaincom-20) follows Boyd very closely. Operational level strictly focus on operations, the management level should focused on the running business as well. Nowadays the master usually is just “ordinary truck driver” but on the other hand it can be quite a large truck with some people on board and let’s not confuse the operational level from the management level. From USMC manual MCDP1 – Warfighting Chapter 1. The Nature of War Chapter 2. The Theory of War Chapter 3. Preparing for War Chapter 4. The Conduct of War Tell me you’re kidding, please. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/5 "2020-11-23T13:01:45Z")
On the another thread there is a discussion about the usefulness of touch screens. I wonder why the third mate can’t see what I see from the bridge of a ship. Both these questions are with regards to how people perceive and respond to their environment. The OODA loop is well known and simple (KISS). The others that come to mind are the concepts of the mental model and Perrow’s “expected world”. Do you have any suggestions? Another is Karl Weick’s HRO. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/6 "2020-11-23T13:12:05Z")
There was a discussion on this thread as to these three terms. > [@“The Captains of Thor — What Really Caused the Loss of the SS El Faro” by Robert Frump](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-captains-of-thor-what-really-caused-the-loss-of-the-ss-el-faro-by-robert-frump/49384/6): > > Yes, I thought the same thing. Pressure in general but also the way Frump tells Davidson’s story makes it easier to see how he’d lean towards taking more risk on that voyage. It was several factors, in particular the dysfunctional selection process for the new ships but in general the ethos or culture that had developed with regards to risk taking. Not at the company but on the ships. One detail I thought was interesting was this Charles Perrow quote: Yale Professor Charles Perrow applied… ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/7 "2020-11-23T14:23:20Z")
> Before examining the sources of information, and how to improve each of them, one must first devise a model of how human decisions are made. U.S. Air Force Colonel John Boyd devised a prescient model he called the “OODA Loop” (USMC, 1992). The principle was that a person Observes a situation, then Orients himself, Decides on a course of action, and then Acts to carry it out. Per his theory, this cycle repeats continuously, according to the speed and dynamics of a changing environment. **The OODA Loop concept was initially oriented towards warfare, but it has universal application in life. Every human, when faced with a dynamic situation, will follow those steps: Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.** This “OODA Loop” can also be considered a “Decision-Making Cycle” (Hammonds, 2002). From here. [https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3175&context=utk\_gradthes](https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3175&context=utk_gradthes) ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/connections-from-hammonds-the-mind-of-war-col-john-boyd/57412/8 "2020-11-23T15:08:23Z")
Above the OODA loop is called "a model’. According to George Box - _All models are wrong, some are useful._ The term _“mental model”_ is static, Perrow’s “Expected World” accounts for the entanglement of the Observe and Orient that the OODA loop disregards or simplifies. Here the feedback between observe and orient (a person sees what he expects to see) is made explicit . > [Intelligence](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Intelligence) has two parts, which we shall call the epistemological and the heuristic. The epistemological part is the representation of the world in such a form that the solution of problems follows from the facts expressed in the representation. The heuristic part is the mechanism that on the basis of the information solves the problem and decides what to do. But too much jargon and can’t be reduced to a four letter acronym.