Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Power vs Force

1. Power arises from meaning. It has to do with motive, and it has to do with principle. Power is always associated with that which supports the significance of life itself. It appeals to that part of human nature that we call noble -- in contrast to force, which appeals to that which we call crass.

2. Force must always be justified, whereas power requires no justification. Force is associated with the partial, power with the whole.

3. We could say that force is a movement -- it goes from here to there (or tries to) against opposition. Power, on the other hand, is still. It's like a standing field that doesn't move.

4. Force is incomplete and therefore has to be fed energy constantly. Power is total and complete in itself and requires nothing from the outside. It makes no demands; it has no needs.

5. Because force has an insatiable appetite, it constantly consumes. Power, in contrast, energizes, gives forth, supplies, and supports.

6. Force is associated with judgement and makes us feel poorly about ourselves. Power is associated with compassion and makes us feel positively about ourselves.

7. Force always creates counterforce; its effect is to polarize rather than unify. Because force incites polarization, it inevitably produces a win/lose dichotomy; and because somebody always loses, enemies are created.

8. Force is concrete, literal, and arguable. It requires proof and support. The sources of power, however, are inarguable and aren't subject to proof. The self-evident isn't arguable.

9. Force is seductive because it emanates a certain glamour, whether that glamour is manifested in the guise of false patriotism, prestige, or dominance; conversely, true power is often quite unglamorous.

10. One characteristic of force is arrogance; power is characterized by humility. Force is pompous; it has all the answers. Power is unassuming.

11. Force often relies upon rhetoric, propaganda, and specious arguments to garner support and disguise underlying motivations. One characteristic of power, though, is that is needs no defense; it's self-evident.

12. Power attracts, whereas force repels. Because power unifies, it has no true enemies, although its manifestations may be opposed by opportunists whose ends it doesn't serve. Power is service to others, whereas force is self-serving.

13. Through its insistence that the ends justify the means, force sells out freedom for expediency. Force offers quick, easy solutions. In power, the means and the ends are the same, but ends require greater maturity, discipline, and patience to be brought to fruition.

14. Force is the universal substitute for truth. The need to control others stems from a lack of power; just as vanity stems from a lack of self-esteem.

15. Power is what makes you go strong, while force makes you go weak. Love, compassion, and forgiveness, which may be mistakenly though of as submissive by some, are, in fact, profoundly empowering. Revenge, judgemental ism, and condemnation, on the other hand, inevitably make you go weak.

David Hawkins, Power vs Force

Savage postscript:

It should be evident that pick-up is force. Seduction -- the gifting of pleasure, arousal, intimacy and intensity as a service to others -- is power. Seduction -- as I teach it -- comes from a place of high self-regard, empathy, awareness, and appreciation.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Augustus said...

Good stuff as usually.

February 01, 2011  

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