The Definition of Power and how we should live
- Freudian Monkey
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- Joined: December 7th, 2017, 3:14 am
The Definition of Power and how we should live
I would like to discuss the concept of power and it's relation to how we should live.
A simple and yet still pretty accurate definition in my opinion is "The ability to cause or prevent change." What do you think about this definition?
However, I would like to go a bit further and propose that power is a pretty profound concept that is closely tied to the meaning of life. I will now proceed to express some ideas I have developed about the nature of power and how it's tied to a meaningful life.
To me the meaning of life is development. We should constantly develop ourselves, learn more, acquire more resources, so that we can influence your surroundings and gain control of your own mind and desires. Either a man determines his own fate or others will determine his fate for him. You have to have desire for life. In my view, this is exactly what Nietzsche calls POWER. Power is simply a being's ability to influence it's internal and external reality. Every living being has power since life itself is power - plants reach out to sun and drain water from the soil because they too have will to live, they too have will to power. They want to spread and fill the earth, just like we do. As long as your heart beats, you have the potential to influence the world, you have power, but when you draw your last breath, you no longer can affect your surroundings. Therefore life itself is power.
All relationships are based on power. There is no unconditional love. A mother loves her children because the child satisfies a need that is based on power. Acts of self-sacrifice and self-denial are not really selfless, because they're motivated by moral values or evolutionary motives that are also manifestations of power.
Once you understand the real nature of power and realize that it's a fundamental and unchanging force of nature, you will immediately understand how you should live:
1) You cannot be indifferent towards life. You either take control or your will be at the mercy of others more powerful than you. Or you will be corrupted and spoiled by desires that you cannot control.
2) You need to gain control of your inner reality. Transform your habits and your routines so that you're not wasting time but that your routines make you into a better person, step by step. Transform your thinking, gain control of your thoughts - don't be a slave of your thoughts, they're not who you really are. Step outside your thoughts and look at them critically. Then take control. Decide who you want to be and start thinking like the person who you want to become. Your thoughts will slowly transform you into this person. If you have bad habits, get rid of them. Otherwise they will always drag your down and prevent you from reaching your true potential.
3) You need to take control of your external reality. Train your body so that it will not fail you. Become more attentive and loving towards your loved ones, since your friendships and family ties are among your greatest sources of power. Develop good social skills and always try to find things that you have in common with other people and forget all the hundreds of things that separate you from one another. Learn to do your job better than anybody else. Become the person everybody relies on when they need something done - to do this, learn skills that people appreciate and require. Become involved in various social projects so that you develop strong social networks. Keep setting new goals for yourself and make sure you keep track of how far you've come for reaching them.
Power gives you everything you want in life. Other people like you more when you are powerful, since your social skills and ability to make people like you are also power - they're your ability to make changes to your external reality. You can be charitable and helpful since you have power to influence other people's lives. Knowledge is power, so you should always pursue knowledge and also to use the power of your knowledge to cause change you desire. When you have resources, you can make your dreams become reality. When you have control of your internal reality, you're not a slave to your desires, addictions and other weaknesses of the mind.
So what do you think about all this? Is this philosophy too heartless or too calculative? Is power not everything we all are after? If not, then what is?
2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023