Poll: What is power?

[JoshGod]

I'd argue that power is ultimately written in destiny. Wait, wait, hear me out. Your individual free will is interlinked with everyone else's free will, thus you are as in control of your actions as much as they are dictated by those and the world around you. Butterfly effect and all that. Power could be said to be being in control of your destiny.

This might just be me, but is it strange to talk about free will and then destiny accepting them both? I always thought that it was one or the other.

I guess that's sort of what I'm getting at- even if free will is a thing, your interactions with the free wills of everyone and everything impact your own so heavily that they're arguably the main force behind your decision making, even if you do 'decide' yourself. You wouldn't have made decision X if someone else on the other side of the planet hadn't made decision Y, etc.

I suppose, but then again some people's action have more impact than others e.g. legislative bodies. Are you trying to say that destiny is power and our control over destiny then equates to how much power we have? That sounds no different then saying whoever has more control has more power, thus power is influence/control over the world around us.

 

[Starik20X6]

This might just be me, but is it strange to talk about free will and then destiny accepting them both? I always thought that it was one or the other.

I guess that's sort of what I'm getting at- even if free will is a thing, your interactions with the free wills of everyone and everything impact your own so heavily that they're arguably the main force behind your decision making, even if you do 'decide' yourself. You wouldn't have made decision X if someone else on the other side of the planet hadn't made decision Y, etc.

I suppose, but then again some people's action have more impact than others e.g. legislative bodies. Are you trying to say that destiny is power and our control over destiny then equates to how much power we have? That sounds no different then saying whoever has more control has more power, thus power is influence/control over the world around us.

I suppose that is what I'm saying. Remember though, legislative bodies are made up of people, who can have good days and bad days like everyone else, and that will impact their decisions, however subtly or strongly. I guess power is having control over your own life and destiny, and maybe extending that influence onto the lives of those around you.

 

[Ashadow700]

I remember my teacher once gave a possible definition of power that I thought summarized the concept quite well.

Power: The ability to, through some type of influence, make other people carry out actions that they otherwise would not do.
(or something like that)

 

[Mr_Spanky]

Power is the ability to control people. Everthing else stems from that.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I went with power is power, because only those with true power seem to know what it is, when you have it, you'll know, money isn't power, money is a control mechanism to give your peasants something to strive for without ever letting them know that it isn't the be all end all...
Knowledge isn't power if you don't have the intellect to back it up, a lot of stupid people know a lot of stuff, but they'll never figure out how to use it.

Power is the understanding and the cunning required to control others, to influence the masses and control those who are in charge of them, people in government aren't powerful, neither are rich people... I've known a degree of power, that time is over... got boring y'know

 

[Shinsei-J]

Power is control, whether it be through any of these means.

 

[doggy go 7]

"other"
As with everything, it's a comprimise, and in reality it takes elements of all three. If you have no people you have no power, but if you don't know how to use them you're equally useless. You need to be able to prove you're worthy of being there (sort of right, I am where I should be) to keep your people, and to be strong enough to crush opponents to your power. Money's iffy, as it's evidently important/works to keep people in power, but it doesn't fit into the equation as nicely. No one factor, but I'd say that having people under your sway (be it through fear, love, money or their belief in you) is vital to keep power.

 

[Gene O]

Interesting tidbit: If knowledge = power and time = money then if you plug it into the equation the more you know the less you make.

 

[TheIronRuler]

I have something that wasn't said in the post.

The ability to hold on to the power you have in the first place. Some men are born into position of power. Others are overthrown from it. Once you're on top, complacency can bring you down in an instant.

 

[Varun Garuda Maharaj]

The product of voltage and current