The Power Game

deepthrill · 2014-04-22T20:50:40+00:00

power itself is the bottom line for everything. Sink or swim. Succeed or fail.

If you had to categorize and simplify "the meaning of life", the purpose and underlying drive for all you do, would you say it's power? And if so, do you believe that applies to just you, or everybody?

To me, I would say that the meaning of life is to (1) experience all that life has to offer, and (2) use my limited time on this planet to make an impact and further society as best as I can.

Regarding (1), power is a means to an end to me. Gaining power will help me experience great heights and certain things in this world not available to those without power. As an example, hang out with someone truly powerful in society (a famous celebrity) and you'll enter into certain experiences not available to those without power. Power and money lead to traveling, which is another life experience. I suppose I am a bit of an "experience junkie" and to me power allows me to fulfill that role. Power will allow me to experience what it's like to lead others. The experience of true freedom can only be gained with enough power and money.

Regarding (2), I want to make an impact. Not out of some sacred duty, but because each of our combinations of genes is simply an experiment by nature, seeing how these combinations do to promote life. My legacy might or might not consist of kids, but will definitely consist of how I impact society, such as Steve Jobs. I feel compelled to use my unique combination of genetics to see how much of an impact I make on society, one way or the other. Maybe that's a compulsion that not everybody feels, or maybe people feel that compulsion in the sense of raising a family and passing on their genes. I have more of a business-legacy mindset rather than a family-legacy mindset. Again, this suggests that power is a means to an end for me, not the end.

TLDR question: is power a means to an end, or the end goal itself?

Hardparty · 2014-04-22T23:14:26+00:00

Good post.

A lack of self-discipline comprises the core of low self-esteem.

This statement, and your elaboration of it, is the most valuable part of your post. This breaks the loop of, "I need confidence to accomplish X, but I need to accomplish X in order to become confident." The truth is never like this. The truth is that you always need to start with discipline and perseverance to accomplish X the first time, until confidence and experience kick in and make it easier.

To make an analogy, building a skill or ability is like starting a chemical reaction. There is a minimum energy barrier associated with any kind of accomplishment which can only be overcome by self discipline and perseverance. Once it is overcome confidence acts as a kind of catalyst which speeds up the rate of subsequent accomplishment.

"Fake it till you make it" is good advice for people who are trying to learn how to pick up women, but not because their fake confidence actually passes for real confidence. It is merely a way of getting them to overcome their inner excuse "I need confidence to pick up women" and just go out there and start persevering.

EDIT: Now, as for the stuff about not giving a fuck about people who cannot help you, I think you need to be careful about that. Certainly many people do care too much about the negative opinions of people who have no real power over their lives. There is a natural tendency to take measures to avoid having any enemies of any kind, and this has the effect of giving power over yourself to people who have no right to it--with such a policy, all someone has to do is act like a dick and they can get something from you when you placate them in order to avoid having an enemy.

On the other hand, if you are dismissive and rude to people who have no power, and only show respect and concern for people with power, you will be seen as a manipulative person who nobody trusts. And then you will truly lose your power.

When people think of "power," they tend to envision people like dictators and warlords, people whose power is ultimately derived from the threat of physical force--the use of force is what ultimately underlies all of the various shadow games that constitute the establishment and maintenance of their power. However, in modern societies the state has a monopoly on the use of force, which means that you can't just go beat on somebody who doesn't do what you want.

What is the ultimate source of power then, for people who don't have control over the state? Ultimately, it derives from the benefit people derive from doing what you wish, and the loss that is entailed by not doing it.

I think the main source of power you have in mind in this essay is social power. Social power is the power to make other people like or dislike someone, and yes, it can be used to grow itself--and you give a good explanation of this dynamic. People will try to befriend you if it means that they get not only the benefits of your friendship, but those of others as well, and they will be afraid to insult you if it means incurring the wrath of the group.

But what is the source of this social power? What makes somebody take your side over someone else, when the rubber ultimately meets the road? There are many factors, but the perception of loyalty is an important one. If you are perceived as a loyal person, your friendship will be valued far more than someone who is perceived as opportunistic--someone whose loyalty to someone only extends as far as the benefit that person can provide them. Indeed, if people are convinced of your loyalty, they will place greater value on your friendship than they would on the friendship of someone who actually provides more benefit to them in the short term.

The value of loyalty is best explained via an analogy. If you pour all of your money into a house, it will often go up in value tremendously in good times. During such times, if you will be able to pull a lot of equity out of your house by refinancing. But the most likely time that you will need to pull a lot of equity out of your house will be during bad economic times, when the values of homes are dropping. During these times, refinancing often isn't even an option. Right when you need it, the liquidity of your investment has disappeared, and your equity is held hostage by the bank for your monthly mortgage payment. If you fall on hard times and can't pay it for a few months, the bank seizes your house, and your equity disappears. Your house is like an opportunistic friend who benefits you greatly when times are good for you, and leaves you in the dirt when times are bad.

On the other hand, a loyal friend is more like gold. During the good times gold isn't a particularly good investment, but (assuming you have the right to sell it freely), it will be there for you in hard economic times when you need it most. Because of this, people will often invest a good portion of their wealth in something like gold as a hedge, even though it doesn't provide as good of a return in the long run. Because gold is there when you need it.

So, you have something to offer people with your friendship, but only so much. What do you want to look like to them--a house, or gold? If you look like gold, people will give you more in return for less. If you look like a house, you're gonna have to give a lot more for what you get back.

And of course, you can fake loyalty, but it's risky. The minute you get caught faking loyalty in front of a group, your value goes to zero. On the other hand, you shouldn't go around giving loyalty to just anyone. Only those who appreciate its value.

vandaalen · 2014-04-22T20:42:42+00:00

Thank you very much for this great article.

The first part reminds me of the thinking in levels when playing poker mathematically and strategically.

One thing I might put up for consideration is that you always have to be aware on which level your opponent is operating, be one level above and know what you imply to them with your actions.

A total noob might not be able to recognize what story you are trying to sell with your bluff in a specific situation and therefore always catch your bluff, while a better player might be able to catch it because your story doesn't make any sense or will calculate his chances and expected value for the different outcomes.

IIRC Patrice O'Neil also mentioned levels of thinking in interactions with women in one episode of The Black Phillip Show.

redpill80 · 2014-04-22T19:49:08+00:00

Great article, as always.

A point in the power game that is often missed is that Machiavellian diversion or "bluff" doesn't necessarily have to be overt to be effective. The illusion of power can be just as significant. This "illusion" goes beyond the bluff, it's a mental projection by the recipient that leaves him questioning his own agency. Is he really in control of his own decisions, or is every decision already scripted by another party? Real power lies in that questioning of agency, and the resulting mental gymnastics.

2014-04-22T19:59:14+00:00

Thanks man, I love your stuff. It's always very in depth and informative.

Mooshaq · 2014-04-23T01:45:47+00:00

I'm glad to see you expanded on this post from TRP; thanks for a great read.

2014-04-22T19:24:44+00:00

Great article. /u/illimitableman is quickly becoming my favorite author here.

charlesbukowksi · 2014-04-24T17:39:54+00:00

Solid article, thanks for writing.

Obsessing over sex is almost as stupid as trying to make yourself believe it’s irrelevant. Sex is intrinsically a large realm of power, others would argue from an anthropological viewpoint it is the entire reason for the concept of power. Regardless of interpretation ignoring sex is essentially ignoring an incredibly large area of the power game and thus for all those interested in power, amassing power or avoiding powerlessness, it is an incredibly short-sighted move.

There is more truth in this than at first may seem apparent. Sex in itself, outside of procreation, is intrinsically useless. In fact it may be a weakness because it requires a great deal of investment both in energy and potentially other resources. Sex however is integral to power dynamics. The auxiliary disciplines of power: seduction, savoir-faire, and even reading people are all paramount to accumulating power. Fraternizing with the enemy (read: women) actually allows one to test their mettle and in this way can be gainful exercise. But that's all it is. And what sex and fraternization really are should not be lost sight of.

2014-07-14T01:51:06+00:00

Blowing away the cobwebs of illusion that I had so successfully spun over my own eyes. I was pretending that I didn't want power but that was only because I have so little of it. Thank you Shiva, the destroyer for manifesting yourself in this way and crushing my pathetic illusions.

Title	The Power Game
Author	IllimitableMan
Upvotes	28
Comments	12
Date	April 22, 2014 6:29 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/AlreadyRed
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/AlreadyRed/comments/23p6nf/the_power_game/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/AlreadyRed/the-power-game.1124282 https://theredarchive.com/post/1124282

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