
Power vs. Force
The Hidden Determinants of Human Behaviour
Categories
Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Philosophy, Health, Science, Leadership, Spirituality, Personal Development
Content Type
Book
Binding
Unknown Binding
Year
0
Publisher
Hay House Inc.
Language
English
ASIN
B00NYII74Q
File Download
PDF | EPUB
Power vs. Force Plot Summary
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly influence others while others struggle despite their best efforts? Or why certain leaders inspire devoted followership while others must resort to coercion? The fundamental distinction between power and force represents one of the most profound yet overlooked dynamics in human interaction. This distinction forms the cornerstone of a comprehensive theoretical framework that maps human consciousness and explains the hidden determinants behind our behaviors, choices, and societal structures. The framework presented offers a revolutionary approach to understanding human experience through calibrated levels of consciousness. By identifying specific attractor patterns that influence human behavior, this work bridges spirituality and science, drawing from advanced theoretical physics, nonlinear dynamics, and clinical research. The methodology provides an objective means to distinguish truth from falsehood, revealing how consciousness itself operates as the ultimate arbiter of reality. Through this lens, we gain unprecedented insight into why individuals, organizations, and societies succeed or fail, why certain approaches heal while others harm, and how the power of consciousness ultimately shapes our collective destiny.
Chapter 1: The Map of Consciousness: Calibrating Human Energy Fields
The Map of Consciousness represents a groundbreaking framework that quantifies human awareness on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 1000. Unlike traditional psychological models that focus on behavior or cognition alone, this map measures the underlying energy fields that determine human experience. These calibrated levels aren't arbitrary designations but reflect measurable energetic states that can be verified through clinical testing using applied kinesiology, a methodology that demonstrates how the human body responds instantaneously to truth and falsehood. The calibration process works through muscle testing, where subjects hold an arm extended while a tester applies pressure after making a statement. When exposed to truth or life-affirming concepts, the arm remains strong; when exposed to falsehood or negative energy, the arm goes weak. This response occurs independently of the subject's personal beliefs or knowledge, revealing an objective reality beyond subjective opinion. Through millions of calibrations performed over decades of research, consistent patterns emerged, allowing for the creation of a comprehensive map of consciousness levels. The scale's critical point occurs at 200—the level of integrity and courage—which marks the division between destructive and constructive influence. Below 200, consciousness operates primarily through force, characterized by shame, fear, anger, pride, and other limiting emotions that drain energy from both the individual and society. Above 200, consciousness manifests as power, expressed through courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy, peace, and ultimately enlightenment. Each level represents not just an emotional state but an entire worldview with its own values, perceptions, and behavioral patterns. The practical implications of this map extend to every domain of human activity. In healthcare, it explains why certain treatments succeed while others fail. In business, it predicts organizational success or collapse. In politics, it clarifies why some leaders inspire while others must resort to control. The map even illuminates spiritual development, showing how consciousness naturally evolves toward higher states. By understanding these energy fields, individuals gain the ability to recognize which influences strengthen them and which weaken them, providing a practical compass for navigating life's complexities and making choices that enhance rather than diminish their power.
Chapter 2: Power vs. Force: Fundamental Differences and Characteristics
Power and force, though often confused in everyday language, represent fundamentally different energy dynamics with profoundly different effects. Power arises from meaning, principle, and that which supports the significance of life itself. It appeals to our nobility and requires no justification. Force, by contrast, always requires justification and operates through coercion, control, and conflict. While power unifies and strengthens, force divides and ultimately weakens both its wielders and its targets. The structural differences between these dynamics reveal themselves through observable characteristics. Power is still, like a gravitational field that doesn't move against anything yet influences everything within its domain. Force always moves against something, creating resistance and requiring constant energy expenditure to maintain. Power is complete in itself, self-sufficient and nurturing, while force constantly consumes energy due to its inherent incompleteness. Power gives life and energy; force takes these away. Power is associated with compassion and makes us feel positive about ourselves, while force is associated with judgment and makes us feel diminished. These distinctions manifest across all domains of human interaction. In politics, statesmen who operate from power inspire through principle and vision, while politicians who rely on force must constantly manipulate and control. In business, companies aligned with power naturally attract loyalty and growth, while those dependent on force must continually struggle against high employee turnover and customer resistance. Even in personal relationships, power creates lasting bonds through respect and mutual enhancement, while force produces temporary compliance that inevitably generates resentment. A simple experiment demonstrates this distinction: when muscle-tested while holding in mind concepts like forgiveness or compassion, a person's arm remains strong; when tested while focusing on revenge or condemnation, the arm goes weak. This physical response reveals an essential truth about human nature: we are intrinsically designed to recognize and respond to power, even when our conscious minds might be temporarily seduced by force. Understanding this fundamental difference provides a practical compass for navigating life's choices, from personal decisions to organizational leadership to societal governance. By aligning with power rather than force, we access greater effectiveness while requiring less effort—the hallmark of true influence.
Chapter 3: Attractor Fields and Their Influence on Human Behavior
Attractor fields represent coherent energy patterns that organize seemingly random data into recognizable systems of influence. Drawing from chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics, these fields function as invisible organizing principles that shape human behavior, thought, and emotion. Unlike the linear causality of Newtonian physics (A causes B causes C), attractor fields operate as underlying patterns (ABC) that simultaneously generate observable phenomena. These fields vary in strength and quality, with some exerting positive, constructive influence and others producing negative, destructive effects. The structure of attractor fields explains why certain ideas, movements, or leaders gain tremendous momentum while others falter despite apparent advantages. High-energy attractors, calibrating above 200 on the consciousness scale, create self-reinforcing patterns that naturally expand their influence. They require minimal effort to maintain and generate solutions that benefit all parties involved. Low-energy attractors, calibrating below 200, must constantly consume energy to sustain themselves and inevitably create resistance, requiring force to overcome opposition. This fundamental difference explains why some organizations thrive with minimal management while others collapse despite elaborate control systems. In practical terms, attractor fields manifest as the collective moods, cultural values, and predominant beliefs that characterize different environments. A hospital emergency room operates within a different attractor field than a meditation retreat; a thriving company functions within a different field than a failing one. These fields aren't merely metaphorical—they create measurable effects on physiology, with high-energy fields enhancing immune function and cognitive performance, while low-energy fields suppress biological systems and impair decision-making. Consider how certain environments immediately affect your energy level—some places make you feel instantly drained, while others leave you feeling invigorated. This response reflects your interaction with the dominant attractor fields in those settings. By developing awareness of these fields, individuals can make conscious choices about which influences to engage with and which to avoid. Organizations can intentionally cultivate positive attractor fields through alignment with principles like integrity, service, and excellence. Even entire societies can evolve by recognizing and transcending limiting attractor patterns that have historically dominated their cultures. The science of attractor fields thus provides both an explanatory framework for human behavior and a practical approach to creating positive change at every level of human experience.
Chapter 4: Levels of Consciousness: From Shame to Enlightenment
The spectrum of human consciousness unfolds as a progressive hierarchy of states, each with its own characteristic worldview, emotional tone, and behavioral patterns. At the bottom of the scale lies Shame (20), a devastating condition where one feels fundamentally flawed and unworthy of existence. This profoundly destructive state often leads to suicide or self-destructive behaviors. Moving upward, we encounter Guilt (30), where one feels inherently bad but not completely worthless; Apathy (50), characterized by hopelessness and despair; Grief (75), dominated by sadness and loss; and Fear (100), where the world appears threatening and dangerous. The middle range of consciousness begins with Desire (125), where craving and addiction become motivating forces; Anger (150), characterized by frustration and resentment; and Pride (175), where one derives identity from external achievements or affiliations. The critical threshold of 200 marks the level of Courage, where power first appears and one becomes capable of constructive action rather than merely reacting to circumstances. Above this threshold, consciousness continues to expand through Neutrality (250), where one becomes relatively unattached to outcomes; Willingness (310), marked by optimism and genuine effort; Acceptance (350), where one transcends judgment and embraces reality as it is; and Reason (400), the realm of intellect, science, and understanding. The higher levels of consciousness represent increasingly rare and profound states. Love (500) emerges as unconditional, unchanging, and permanent—not the emotional dependency commonly mistaken for love, but a state of being that emanates from the heart rather than the mind. Joy (540) brings constant inner bliss regardless of external circumstances. Peace (600) transcends the duality of subject and object, creating profound stillness and serenity. The highest levels, from 700 to 1000, represent Enlightenment, where individual identity dissolves into universal consciousness. These levels aren't merely theoretical constructs but correspond to observable patterns in human experience. Someone operating from Fear perceives threats everywhere and lives defensively, while someone at the level of Acceptance sees the same circumstances as opportunities for growth. A business leader functioning at Pride makes decisions based on appearance and status, while one operating from Reason makes choices based on data and analysis. Understanding these levels provides a map for personal development, showing both where we currently stand and the territory ahead. Most importantly, it reveals that advancement in consciousness doesn't occur through accumulating information but through transcending limiting perspectives and aligning with increasingly powerful attractor fields that naturally draw us toward greater awareness, compassion, and effectiveness.
Chapter 5: Practical Applications: Testing Truth in Daily Life
The kinesiological testing method provides a revolutionary approach to discerning truth from falsehood in everyday situations. This technique utilizes the body's instantaneous response to stimuli as a reliable indicator of whether something strengthens or weakens our energy field. The procedure is remarkably simple: one person extends an arm horizontally while another applies gentle downward pressure after making a statement. If the statement aligns with truth, the arm remains strong; if it contains falsehood, the arm goes weak. This response occurs independently of the subject's beliefs or knowledge, revealing an objective reality beyond personal opinion. The applications of this testing method span virtually every domain of human decision-making. In business, it can quickly determine the viability of potential investments, the integrity of business partners, or the effectiveness of marketing strategies. In healthcare, it can identify beneficial treatments, appropriate medications, or underlying causes of illness that conventional diagnostics might miss. In personal relationships, it can reveal hidden dynamics, unspoken intentions, or compatibility factors. Even in spiritual pursuits, it provides a reliable means to distinguish authentic teachings from manipulative cults or self-serving gurus. The methodology works through accessing what Carl Jung called the "collective unconscious"—a vast database of human awareness that contains all information ever available to consciousness. This database operates beyond the limitations of time and space, allowing immediate access to truth regardless of one's conscious knowledge about a subject. The body's muscle response serves as a simple binary interface with this field of consciousness, translating its wisdom into physical signals that anyone can learn to interpret. Consider how this might transform everyday decisions: Instead of agonizing over which job offer to accept, which house to buy, or which medical treatment to pursue, one could quickly test each option to determine which genuinely supports life energy. Rather than being misled by clever marketing, emotional manipulation, or our own wishful thinking, we gain access to clear guidance that consistently leads toward life-enhancing choices. The method doesn't replace critical thinking or personal responsibility but complements them by providing an additional source of information—one that bypasses the limitations of the rational mind and connects directly with the wisdom of the body and the larger field of consciousness itself. In a world increasingly dominated by misinformation and complexity, this simple technique offers a practical compass for navigating toward truth.
Chapter 6: The Evolution of Consciousness: Individual and Collective Growth
The evolution of consciousness follows distinct patterns at both individual and collective levels, though progress often occurs unevenly and with significant variation. Research indicates that the average person advances only about five points on the consciousness scale during an entire lifetime—a sobering statistic that reflects humanity's resistance to change and attachment to familiar perspectives. This resistance stems largely from the ego's investment in maintaining its existing worldview, even when that view causes suffering or limits potential. However, certain conditions can catalyze dramatic leaps in awareness, sometimes spanning hundreds of points on the scale. Transformational growth typically occurs through two primary mechanisms: progressive development and sudden breakthrough. Progressive development involves gradual shifts through consistent practice of spiritual disciplines, ethical living, or consciousness-raising techniques. This path requires sustained effort but builds a stable foundation for higher awareness. Sudden breakthroughs, by contrast, often emerge from profound crisis, spiritual awakening, or encounters with individuals operating at much higher levels of consciousness. These quantum leaps can permanently alter one's perception of reality, though they may require subsequent integration to become stabilized. The collective evolution of consciousness follows similar patterns but operates on a much larger scale. Throughout history, humanity's average level remained around 190 for many centuries—just below the critical threshold of 200 where power first appears. In recent decades, however, this average has risen to approximately 207, crossing into the realm of integrity and courage. This shift, though seemingly small, represents a momentous development with profound implications for human society. It suggests that humanity has entered a new phase where constructive approaches can finally outweigh destructive ones on a global scale. The mechanics of collective evolution involve complex interactions between individual consciousness and group fields. A small percentage of individuals operating at high levels of consciousness exert disproportionate influence on the whole. Research indicates that a single person at level 700 counterbalances the negative energy of 70 million people below level 200. This explains how great spiritual teachers throughout history have transformed entire civilizations despite their small numbers. It also reveals why focusing on personal development represents not merely self-improvement but a significant contribution to humanity's evolution. As each person raises their level of consciousness, they strengthen the attractor fields that pull others upward as well. This understanding transforms spiritual growth from a private pursuit into a form of service to all of humanity, creating a positive feedback loop where individual and collective evolution mutually reinforce each other toward ever-higher levels of awareness, compassion, and creative potential.
Summary
The essence of human experience lies in the fundamental distinction between power and force—power aligns with truth, requires no justification, and creates sustainable positive outcomes, while force depends on control, generates resistance, and ultimately fails despite apparent short-term success. This framework reveals that consciousness itself operates as a spectrum of attractor fields that determine our perceptions, choices, and effectiveness across all domains of life. The map of consciousness provides not just theoretical understanding but practical guidance for navigating our complex world. By recognizing the difference between what strengthens and what weakens us—between truth and falsehood, between power and force—we gain access to an internal compass that consistently leads toward greater effectiveness, fulfillment, and contribution. As individuals align with higher attractor fields, they not only transform their personal experience but contribute to the evolution of collective consciousness itself. In this light, personal development becomes an act of service with far-reaching implications, as each person who advances on the scale helps create the conditions for others to do the same. The ultimate promise of this work is nothing less than the transformation of human experience through the recognition of our inherent capacity to discern and embody truth.
Best Quote
“Force can bring satisfaction, but only power brings joy. Victory over others brings us satisfaction, but victory over ourselves brings us joy.” ― David R. Hawkins, Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior
Review Summary
Strengths: The review provides a clear overview of the book's premise, highlighting the significance of understanding individual levels of consciousness and their impact on behavior. It mentions the use of Applied Kinesiology by Dr. David R. Hawkins to develop a consciousness map, which adds depth to the analysis. Weaknesses: The review ends abruptly, leaving the reader hanging mid-sentence, which may affect the overall coherence and completeness of the review. Overall: The reviewer expresses high regard for the book, emphasizing its importance in understanding the connection between consciousness and behavior. The review effectively conveys the key concepts discussed in "Power Vs. Force," making it a recommended read for those interested in exploring this topic further.
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Power vs. Force
By David R. Hawkins