PAGE IN PROGRESS What you see here is a page of my hypertext book POWER of meanings // MEANINGS of power. Initially empty, this page will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. Thank you for your interest and patience!
Individual power is impossible without intentionality Intentional actions are actions that involve self-awareness and choice
When we are not entirely aware of why we do things a certain way, we do not have complete power over our actions But it is very common for people not to have full awareness of reasons behind their actions For example, Jonathan Haidt discusses how people make moral judgements thinking that their choices are reasonable and logical, while these choices are actually based on emotions. It is not uncommon for people to find justifications for their actions and ignore deeper reasons and the full scope of consequences.
This is a reminded that in any individual actions power is always coexists with a certain degree of powerlessness
Question that comes to mind: can we argue that people make a choice not to be entirely self-aware? This is logical trap. In order to make a choice about our self-awareness, we need to have at least some of this self-awareness to begin with. People's circumstances[including half-changed minds] often prevent them from developing such awareness
Following the logic of intentionality, I argue that our powers ends at the point where we cannot possibly have awareness of the full scope of consequences of our choices.