Science is the power to manage power intelligently!

[gwb]

Science is the power to manage power intelligently, the power to master power for science produces the deep intimate knowledge needed to master something. The power of science is that it allows us to investigate reality, including power in all its forms and variations. It enables us to investigate everything from mechanical power to institutional power and provide us with a detailed understanding of how, when, where, why and what.

The physical sciences like physics and chemistry are providing us with the knowledge we need to harness natural powers so we can turn that energy to our advantage. Scientists are studying the fundamental interactions: the nuclear, electromagnetic and gravitational forces, providing us with the knowledge we need to harness those forces for our own ends. They are also experimenting with wind, water, sunshine and geothermal energy, allowing us to convert those forces into electrical power that we can use to power the myriad of instruments we use daily. Science is also researching fossil fuels, partly to find more efficient ways to use these fuels and partly to find ways to clean up the deleterious effects of fossil fuels. Thus, science is giving us the knowledge we need to harness the natural forces and direct that energy toward our own ends.

Science is also helping us master the power of plants and animals (assuming we don’t eradicate them). Scientists are researching the nutritional value of plants and animals as well as investigating the comparable values of natural foods versus manufactured foods versus genetically engineered foods. They are also studying the various methods and techniques people use to improve yields without sacrificing the nutritional value; and they are busy experimenting with producing plants that are hardy, disease resistant and drought tolerant, which will only help us gain greater mastery of our food supply, possibly the most fundamental power supply. Thus, science is giving us the potential power to eliminate hunger throughout the world, giving us the cornerstone to create a better for all humankind.

Science is also helping us master the healing power hidden inside plants and animals. Here too, scientists are researching the compounds in plants and animals (notably their venoms), searching for the potential medicinal benefits in the ongoing battle against disease. They are also conducting stem cell research to find ways to channel the human bodies intrinsic mechanisms into medical therapies that could conquer diseases and disorders. Although most ancestral cultures discovered some of the medicinal secrets hidden in the local flora and fauna, their knowledge was not the deep microscopic knowledge of cells and molecules that scientists use to design treatments for specific diseases. Thus, science is helping us cultivate and maintain the power of a healthy body.

Not only can science help us master the natural forces but it could also help us master the powers that emerge from human societies. For instance, scientists could study the nature and application of authority, whether political, social or economic. While those with authority may believe they already are the supreme masters of power (if only surly authors would abide by their wishes), scientists could provide insight into the uses and abuses of authority. Scientists could identify the different magnitudes of mortal power: hard, soft and moderate; or they might identify different types of authority: authoritarian, permissive and authoritative. They could also identify their typical characteristics, behaviours and consequences, and armed with this knowledge we could gain a deeper and truer understanding of authority, its forms, functions and effectiveness. In other words, science could give us the empirical knowledge we need to manage authority wisely, although this is only on the grandiose assumption we have the courage to give scientists the freedom to investigate without an agenda.

Science can also help us understand economic power, though we must admit scientists have already been doing so for a century through the disciplines of economics and business management. They are busy studying different management styles and strategies, providing astute business people with insight into the best ways to organize and manage their enterprise. Science is also studying the challenges of hiring the best people, planning and implementing goals, managing customers and resolving conflicts. These issues are all invaluable knowledge for any business wishing to succeed without learning incredibly costly lessons. Scientists are also exploring the various ways in which businesses are unwittingly undermining their own ambitions, which is priceless knowledge considering one oversight can destroy a space shuttle. The bottom line is that science is providing astute businesses with the knowledge they need to create the best businesses humanly possible, businesses where people love working and spending their hard earned money. Science is giving business the knowledge it need to succeed in a highly competitive global environment.

Science is also helping us with the problem of social power, the monumental challenge of crafting social behaviour to maximize the power to our relationships. We are after all social beings who interact with each other twenty-four-seven, three sixty five and a quarter. We eat together, we work together, we sleep together, we play together, we sing and dance together, we love and hate together, and science is studying these experiences. If we pay attention to their conclusions, we can use the knowledge to improve our relationships and enhance our social power. And if we really pay attention, we will discover that science is finding that the quality of our relationships has a profound influence on our life satisfaction. In other words, science can help us improve our social lives which influences the quality of our lives which then influences our satisfaction with life.

The long and short is that science can turn its microscope on virtually any kind of power and by studying it in the lab, science can provide us with microscopic knowledge of that power. Equipped with this deep intimate knowledge, we can then manage power wisely, we can mange it intelligently with deliberate foreknowledge. We can employ mechanical power to do the hard, physical labour faster and easier than the human body ever could; and we can probably learn to use intangible powers like political, economic and social power with deliberate foreknowledge instead of relying on fickle good fortune. Thus, science is the power to manage power intelligently, knowing exactly what we wish to achieve and precisely how we plan to achieve it.

 

hope you enjoyed it. your feedback is greatly appreciated as it will most likely help me either improve the essay or improve my perspective on something.

thank you, gwb

[swansont]

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Moderator Note

This isn't your blog. It's a discussion forum.

The rules prohibit this kind of pontificating.  Was there something you wished to discuss?

 

[gwb]

okay, how do I remove it

[studiot]

7 hours ago, gwb said:

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hope you enjoyed it. your feedback is greatly appreciated as it will most likely help me either improve the essay or improve my perspective on something.

 

 

Rather than remove it - improve it

Just as you stated in the last line of the quote as underlined

This last paragraph refers to the title, but unfortunately shows a basic misunderstanding of the scientific term power.

7 hours ago, gwb said:

The long and short is that science can turn its microscope on virtually any kind of power and by studying it in the lab, science can provide us with microscopic knowledge of that power. Equipped with this deep intimate knowledge, we can then manage power wisely, we can mange it intelligently with deliberate foreknowledge. We can employ mechanical power to do the hard, physical labour faster and easier than the human body ever could; and we can probably learn to use intangible powers like political, economic and social power with deliberate foreknowledge instead of relying on fickle good fortune. Thus, science is the power to manage power intelligently, knowing exactly what we wish to achieve and precisely how we plan to achieve it.

 

The use of machinery does not change the amount of power or energy required to perfom a task, as you imply.

Have you heard the Philosophical definition of a machine?

"A machine is a device for putting work in a convenient form" ?

Edited July 13, 2018 by studiot

[gwb]

14 hours ago, studiot said:

This last paragraph refers to the title, but unfortunately shows a basic misunderstanding of the scientific term power

power has multiple definitions. in physics, it is about a force that can be exerted upon something, but in politics, or political science and psychology, power can refer to a more abstract phenomenon, the ability or capacity to influence other people, their thoughts or their actions. also, there is the phrase that knowledge is power. some chimpanzees know how to extract termites from a mound, so they have the power to act upon their environment in a way no other species of monkeys can. some orcas know how to hunt whales and some orcas know how to pluck seals off a beach. they have the power to act in very specific ways. because they possess specific knowledge, they become a deliberate force.

science can study all these variations, giving us the knowledge that we can use to plot a deliberate course of action.

[studiot]

5 minutes ago, gwb said:

power has multiple definitions. in physics, it is about a force that can be exerted upon something, but in politics, or political science and psychology, power can refer to a more abstract phenomenon, the ability or capacity to influence other people, their thoughts or their actions. also, there is the phrase that knowledge is power. some chimpanzees know how to extract termites from a mound, so they have the power to act upon their environment in a way no other species of monkeys can. some orcas know how to hunt whales and some orcas know how to pluck seals off a beach. they have the power to act in very specific ways. because they possess specific knowledge, they become a deliberate force.

science can study all these variations, giving us the knowledge that we can use to plot a deliberate course of action.

 

 

Well I offered you discussion and you chose to reject it.

Thank you for the lecture, it is clear that you only wish to push your own views.

I'm sorry you will never know the correct Physics definition for the words Power and Energy, which unlike some words, have only the one meaning all across the different Sciences.

And nowhere is it equated with a force, though that is a very common beginner's error.

[ALine]

I do not think that science is about the management of power intelligently. Power implies that you have something to wield again another person. Science "gives" you the ability to have power sure but once you introduce the concept of a power game then you are in turn doomed to fail. Power is for politicians, Science is for scientists.

[gwb]

On ‎13‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 6:06 PM, studiot said:

Well I offered you discussion and you chose to reject it.

the only sensible thing for me to do at this time would be to apologize for I am obviously running contrary to the spirit of the forum,

my apologies

[studiot]

On 16/07/2018 at 1:14 AM, gwb said:

the only sensible thing for me to do at this time would be to apologize for I am obviously running contrary to the spirit of the forum,

my apologies

Thanks +1

But you could always join the discussion.