My Library

But in the end, it’s surprising how little is really known about it. Various psychologists studied it during the last and the early parts of this present century -- Man as a Power Animal, for example. The "social dynamics" of power have been noted and somewhat inquired into. We are somewhat familiar with the existence of power structures, the distribution of power, "dressing for power," "power ties (for males)," power competitions, power mongers, power dealers, "power games" and power "balances." The list is very long of other power whatnots -- including self-help courses which teach one how to "visualize that one is powerful" with the expectation that the visualizing WILL increase one’s power. And, above all, it is broadly accepted that all human situations turn on power of some kind -rather, turn upon who has power and who has not. We even know that power influences, that power corrupts, but that it takes power to get anything done. Power, then, is a huge and very fundamental aspect of humans everywhere -- a MEGAfundamental aspect. And via all of the above, it is thought that we know something of it. In fact, though, we don’t know very much about its intrinsic nature and "workings" -- and via such workings many sets of circumstances arise and suck people into them. There is, I think, a central reason or explanation for this, one which few really want exposed too much.