chapter 52: On Administering a System

The System had a beginning: the mother of the System.
To know the mother is to know her children.
Know the children, return to guard the mother,
and thereby avoid danger.

Shut the portals, close the gateways,
and thereby preserve your resources.
Open the portals, multiply the services,
and you will exhaust your resources.

To perceive the low-level is true insight;
to maintain the simple is true strength.
You may use the GUI tools, but return to insight:
thereby you may avoid disaster.
This is how to support reliable service.

 

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chapter notes:

In this case, the Heaven and Earth (i.e., the world) is translated to the System being administered. While this changes the sense of the chapter somewhat, it seems comfortable in its new context.

chapter 51: On Projects

The Way gives life;
Virtue supports it.
Programs take form;
their usefulness completes them.

Therefore,
the ten thousand programs honor the Way,
and respect Virtue.
Honoring the Way, respecting Virtue:
nothing compels this;
by its very nature, it is so.

The Way, and the Virtue of the project:
together, they
generate and support it,
develop and maintain it,
protect and defend it,
host and secure it.

Creating without possessing,
taking action without demanding credit,
completing without controlling:
this is called Subtle Virtue.

 

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chapter notes:

In addition to targeting programs instead of generic “things”, I have tried to pursue specific interpretation of the sense of the generic original.

The content of the second verse is still somewhat subtle: it defines the *sense* in which things honor the Way. The point, as I understand it, is that we are not speaking of any kind of anthropomorphic honor and respect — only that Virtue and the Way are essential aspects of the origin, development, and functioning of things, so their natural operation necessarily reflects that.

chapter 50: On the Death March

From life, into death.

The signs of a successful project are well-known.
The signs of a failing project are well-known.
The signs of a death march are also well-known.
Why do organizations pursue the death march?
Because they live only for success.

Of he who holds his life effectively, it is said:
when he travels the wilds, he need not avoid buffalos and tigers;
when he enters the battleground, he needs neither armor nor weapons.
The buffalo finds no place for its horns;
the tiger finds no place for its claws;
the weapon finds no place for its blade.
Why is this so?
Because there is no place in him for death.

 

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chapter notes:

As there appears to be disagreement over the interpretation of the first half of this chapter, I have found something modern which is hopefully consonant with the original.

For those not familiar with software development, a “death march” is a software project that is doomed to failure, but whose failure is politically impossible. Working on a death march project is very stressful for all concerned, as well as being a bottomless hole for the resources of the organization supporting it.

The second half is straightforward. As Lao Tzu is commonly portrayed with his trusty water buffalo, I have chosen “buffalo” as a dangerous animal here. Although the water buffalo had long been domesticated, wild water buffalo are aggressive and dangerous, and would have been a hazard of wilderness travel.

chapter 49: On Customer Relations

The Consultant has no heart:
he takes the heart of his clients as his own.

The competent, he treats as competent;
the incompetent, he also treats as competent
– this is a virtue of his competence.
The credible, he treats as credible;
the incredible, he also treats as credible
– this lends virtue to his credibility.

The Consultant is synthesist to the world:
all its confused demands, he keeps in mind.
The clients fix eyes and ears on the Consultant,
and he tells them their requirements.

 

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chapter notes:

Except for the last line, this chapter is straightforward; the sense of the original seems to apply to both ancient and modern Consultants.

chapter 48: On Theory and Practice

He who studies, accumulates every day.
He who follows the Way, diminishes every day.

Diminish, and diminish again,
until you achieve action without force.
Take action without force,
and there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.

If you would change the world,
genuinely relinquish your self-interest:
by clinging to your self-interest,
you become insufficient to change the world.

 

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chapter notes:

The text of this chapter is a straightforward translation; even the chapter title does not particularly redirect its intent.

chapter 47: On Telecommuting

(or: The Consultant Doesn’t Get Out Much)

Without leaving your door,
know the world.
Without looking out the window
know the Way of Heaven.
The farther you go,
the less you know.

Therefore the Consultant
can elicit the requirements without travelling,
can write the code without setting eyes on the client,
can complete the project with a minimum of hassle.

 

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chapter notes:

Whatever the ancient virtues of staying put might be, telecommuting is the obvious modern target for this chapter.

I find it interesting that only here, in the entire book, is knowledge spoken of as something to be sought. So, if escaping knowledge is an essential Daoist virtue, one could read this chapter in reverse, and count travel as beneficial, after all.

chapter 46: On Software Patents

When the world follows the Way,
algorithms are published in the journals.
When the world does not follow the Way,
patent portfolios are built up in self-defense.

There is no misfortune like avarice:
no evil greater than unchecked greed;
no disaster more tragic than the inability to be satisfied.

Even minimal understanding
of when to be satisfied
is sufficient.

 

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chapter notes:

Since horses are no longer instruments of war, and war is outside my target context, I have converted them to software patents.

For those unfamiliar with the issue, software patents are a genuine bane to software developers of any kind. Most software patents are useless except as a threat for legal harassment; in the rare case where the content of the patent is actually useful, the patent causes the underlying algorithm to become “encumbered” (an actual term of art in the computer world), and developers avoid it like the plague.

chapter 45: On the Free Software Foundation

Great quality may seem defective,
but use does not wear it out.
Great fullness may seem empty,
but use does not exhaust it.

Great truth may seem warped.
Great skill may seem clumsy.
Great wealth may appear mediocre.
Great eloquence may sound inarticulate.

Agitation fights the cold,
but stillness overcomes the heat:
purity and equilibrium can change the world.

 

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chapter notes:

The text of this chapter is a straightforward translation; the chapter title only suggests a concrete example.

chapter 44: On Diversification

Your reputation or your life:
which is closer to your heart?
Your life or your money:
which is worth more?
Growth or cutbacks:
which is more disruptive?

Where you place deep attachment,
there you will spend most deeply;
where you have heavy investments,
there you will take heavy losses.

Therefore,
to avoid disgrace, know when to be content;
to mitigate risk, know where to stop:
these make lasting endurance possible.

 

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chapter notes:

Even in the original, this chapter reads like a tutorial on utility theory and risk management; I have emphasized this aspect.

chapter 43: On Soft Power

Flowing water grinds hard stone to dust;
insubstantial air penetrates the seamless wall:
these show the virtue of taking action without force.

Speaking without voice,
taking action without force:
few can approach these.

 

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chapter notes:

I have answered the riddle in the first verse, but otherwise I have not tried to distort this chapter.