The Perfect Offense against the Perfect Defense

[Silpheed2K]

Here's food for thought! If the perfect offense went against the perfect defence, who would win?
Whether it's a simple fist fight or all out war.

Would it be the offense because basically the defense would eventually crack?
Or would it be the defense since eventually the offense would run out of energy/resources?
Or would it be a tie and nobody would win, since it would either be going nowhere or they would eventually wipe each other out.


What's your opinions on it?

[glennzo]

Seems simple enough to me. If both sides are perfect then it would eventually end in a draw.

[scottro]

I remember someone's rather interesting answer to the question, If God can do anything, can He make a stone so heavy that He can't lift it?

The answer was, "God has better things to do than worry about a stone."

[Evil_Bert]

Or, "What happens when an unstoppable force meets and immovable object?"

[notageek]

In my opinion a perfect defense will always fail in the face of perfect offense, primarily because in perfect offense it is required to know the extent of your enemy's resources and to plan ahead enough to overwhelm the enemy.

When a perfect offense is launched against an enemy, no defense remains perfect since the person driving the offense always has the element of surprise with him and the person defending only has limited resources with which he can defend himself, eventually the defender's resources will drain out.

Just my thought, my opinion is based on my limited knowledge of military/sports/economic duel.

[forkbomb]

Hmm...

I wonder what Sun Tzu would have said about this? My guess is offense.

Or having good spies and irregular saboteurs is better than having a good offense or defense.

[SGSeries2]

Not sure about a perfect offense/defense. Heck, I'm not even sure if they could co-exist, so I'd guess a tie.

As for the unstoppable force, it would surely get sent to Arkham Asylum, and the immovable object, well, I'll leave that open for debate.

[aleph]

This used to be a philosophical topic from the Warring States period of ancient China... originally posed by Han Fei Tzu in one of his fables. Han Fei Tzu's answer was "the perfect offence and the perfect defense cannot exist at the same time in this world", implying that the question was inherently flawed

See this, if you can read Chinese (with some English captions)... http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/diction...?if=en&id=2532

[ibbo]

The side with the most artillery always wins

Sun Tzu would have said "He who fights no battle will win" (wise arse).

Simple answer is "he who ****s up 1st will loose".

Ibbo

[Silpheed2K]

Some of the responses have actually sparked my interest and were greater than expected.
I always heard 2 sayings... "The best offense is a good defense" and "The best defense is a good offense"
and I was testing those two out.. I really liked the responses. Especially the look into chinese history.
I don't view the question as flawed however I do agree that they theoretically probably cant exist at the same time. (but i didn't say they can't for sure)

And I feel the stoppable force and immovable object quote can be answered but I don't know the exact rules of that quote.

[savage]

I win, since both other sides will have wiped themselves out

[ibbo]

"I win, since both other sides will have wiped themselves out"

Yea now lets colonize and pillage the land

[LT72884]

Originally Posted by Silpheed2K

Here's food for thought! If the perfect offense went against the perfect defence, who would win?
Whether it's a simple fist fight or all out war.

Would it be the offense because basically the defense would eventually crack?
Or would it be the defense since eventually the offense would run out of energy/resources?
Or would it be a tie and nobody would win, since it would either be going nowhere or they would eventually wipe each other out.


What's your opinions on it?

if its perfect, they will never crack. perfection is an on going forever concept.

it ends in a draw. BUT since none of us are perfect we will never know. MOOHAHAHAHAHA

[sailor]

The perfect defense could stop anything the perfect offense could throw at it...but the Perfect Defense may include offensive actions...which ultimately allow it to win...

[LT72884]

Originally Posted by sailor

The perfect defense could stop anything the perfect offense could throw at it...but the Perfect Defense may include offensive actions...which ultimately allow it to win...

Flip that scenario around... The perfect offense can break the perfect defense. When two things are perfect, they both win.