The more you know about your opponents, the more you learn how to beat them. Where the holes open to run through, blocking schemes, even down to player tendencies and what hand they like to carry the ball with.
Ends and purposes, whether they exist as conscious or subconscious tendencies, form the wrap and woof of our conscious experience.
If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.