Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

The interactions of humans and governments show the differences between force and power and the implications of the distinction. Principles that calibrate at a high level—such as the inalienable right to freedom, established by the American Revolution—affect humankind profoundly.

Mahatma Gandhi, whose nonviolent protests ended British rule over India, was a solitary person who defeated an empire that at the time ruled two-thirds of the world. He did this by standing for a principle, the human right to freedom and self-determination. Gandhi believed human rights belonged to humankind by virtue of the divinity of his creation. While violence is force, Gandhi was aligned with power and so forbade the use of violence in his cause. Colonialism calibrates at 175, but the principles for which he stood calibrate at 700.

Communist and fascist governments produce tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin. Both forms depend on the use of force and can be defeated, as Hitler was by Churchill, by principles of freedom and sacrifice. Force can be seductive and glamorous, often manifesting in the guise of false patriotism or dominance. Weak people are attracted to it. True power, however, is not glamorous but instead shows humility.

Political systems that begin with true power can be corrupted by self-seekers, just as communism degraded from a humanitarian ideal to a tyrannical state. Similarly, politicians often rule by force and exploit others to serve their own ambitions, while statesmen invoke human nobility and sacrifice themselves to serve others. Power is aligned with the truth, which is self-evident. Unlike force, power does not require justification. Power is associated with “that which supports life,” while force is associated with “that which exploits life” to benefit an individual or organization (147). Force divides and polarizes, where power unifies.

Hawkins believes that democracy is recognized as the superior form of government. However, a movement toward democracy doesn’t show a pattern of A causing B which causes C. Rather, it is the unfolding of an ABC attractor pattern from which a society evolves. The power of the United States arises from the principles on which it was founded and its foundational documents. The statement from the Declaration of Independence that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” calibrates at 700. Democracy recognizes that these principles are endowed by a “Divine Higher Power” (150).

Hawkins sees a distinction between religion, which is often associated with force, and spirituality, which is always associated with nonviolence. He believes that the Constitution has been “dimmed” by pockets of totalitarianism within government. Principles such as Americanism can also be misused, such as by white supremacists.

Just as humans have freedom of choice, the ultimate choice is whether to align with a high-energy attractor field or a low-energy one. Weak patterns that can destroy civilizations also destroy organizations and careers. This is especially true in the world of business, where buyers can be easily taken in by imitator patterns that look like high-energy attractors and are really shams.

In contrast, good business leaders exercise power. Hawkins offers the example of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, whose employees are trained to be accommodating and energetic. Their focus on service shows commitment to the support of human value. Successful companies like Walmart also promote a family feeling among employees. This helps to prevent employee turnover and shortages.

Quality should be stressed in products rather than planned obsolescence, which happens in the auto market. Advertising should make people “go strong” to create a positive feeling about the product.

In other marketplaces besides commerce, the fulfillment of human needs is a commodity. Government institutions go astray because people can’t always recognize the important factors in a situation; their level of consciousness limits their perception. This creates bias and a false sense of causality. Hawkins believes that if groups would support solutions instead of attacking causes, they would have success. This is why vice squads do not solve the problem of crime.

Sentimentality, moralizing, and falsehood, all weak approaches, also interfere with the solution of social problems. Punishment equates to revenge at a weak energy level of 150. Powerful solutions are based at the level of Acceptance, 350, not condemnation and Anger, 150. Hawkins offers designated red-light districts in Amsterdam as a positive example and the criminalization of “soft” drugs as a negative one.

Hawkins claims that his ideas about consciousness apply to any field of human activity, including sports. Athletes strive to overcome human limitations and often reach high levels of consciousness after breaking through a physical limit. The breakthrough, like Roger Bannister’s achievement of breaking the four-minute mile, then creates a new paradigm for achievement.

Hawkins points to a movie about a world deep-sea diving champion, Jacques Mayol, as an example. The film, The Big Blue, calibrated at an energy level of 700, representing the oneness of all life and universal truth. Slow-motion photography emphasizes the intensity of Mayol’s concentration as he transcends his limits.

Great athletes show humility. They express gratitude and often thank a higher power. They do not show pride, which makes a performer “go weak.” It is important for them to view their excellence as a gift belonging to humankind, not a personal accomplishment. Pride is not intrinsically wrong, but it must embrace human achievement.

Athletes should be celebrated because they have overcome personal ambition in service to a higher principle. This is especially true of Olympic athletes, who inspire others to seek excellence.

The term “spirit” refers to an unseen essence that is the energy of life. An individual or nation that loses or lacks spiritual qualities is devoid of humanity. However, spirituality is not religion. Force often distorts truth in the name of religion.

Hawkins offers an example of a spiritual organization in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is not allied with any religion, and all members are equal. There is no coercion; the 12 steps are suggestions. AA respects freedom, and its “power patterns” are those of positive qualities, such as honesty and goodwill. It charts a path for its members, offering a way to find health and self-respect.

AA has inspired nearly 300 12-step self-help organizations, greatly lifting Americans from suffering. It also helps society by saving billions of dollars. It prevents absenteeism, welfare, health care, and other social issues. Its members agree to admit the limitations of their egos to experience a true power.

Hawkins traces the history of AA beginning with Rowland H., a businessman who in the 1930s was treated for alcohol dependency by the psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Jung suggested that the man surrender to God. Rowland joined an organization that promoted spiritual growth and recovered. He helped a friend recover, and this friend in turn helped another. The last man, “Bill W.,” went from atheism to experiencing a transformative presence.

Bill W. cofounded AA with a surgeon, “Dr. Bob.” His principles, like those of all great religions, retain their “innate attractor power pattern” (174) as ideals for which humankind strives.

Great works of art, music, and architecture are “representations of the effect of high-energy patterns” (176). Great art makes order from chaos, and Art and Love are “man’s greatest gifts to himself” (177). Carl Jung, who calibrates higher than any other psychoanalyst in history, emphasized the relationship of art to human dignity and spirit.

Music is the most subtle but also the most emotional of the arts. This is especially true of classical music. Architecture is the most tangible art, and cathedrals calibrate the highest among forms. Power is always expressed with grace, because graciousness implies respect and love for others. To people of advanced consciousness, all form is beauty.

Creativity and genius are “the center of powerful, high-energy attractors” (181). Genius is a style of consciousness and is characterized by the ability to access high-energy attractor patterns. A true genius is humble, attributing their insights to a higher influence. The genius often solves a problem or creates a masterpiece through a sudden revelation.

Attractor energy patterns have harmonics, like musical tones. The higher frequency the harmonic, the higher the power will be. A genius finds a new, higher harmonic. Posing a question activates an attractor, and the answer lies within the harmonic.

Since consciousness is a universal quality, genius is universal and available to everyone. It can take many forms and does not equate to having a high IQ, which measures academic capacity. It does, however, require near-genius to recognize genius, which makes it an untapped resource in society.

Geniuses are also considered to be eccentric. In fact, because they align with high-energy attractors, they have a different perspective on life. Their work may include periods of great intensity, since dedication is required.

Hawkins makes a distinction between success and Success. Mere success, which can take the form of celebrity, can jeopardize one’s life, but Success enhances it and supports the spirit.

Celebrity can distort a person’s ego and reinforce their “small” self, which is aligned with weak attractor patterns. True Success, however, aligns with the “big” Self and high-power energy fields. Many successful people use their power to help others.

Truly successful people identify with Hawkins’s formula of causality, the idea that a pattern called ABC exists before the sequence of A causing B, which causes C. The pattern or source of power lies within. The ladder of achievement for the truly successful has three steps. First, their status depends on signs of material wealth. Next, status comes from what one does. Finally, one is concerned “only with what one has become as a result of life’s experiences” (189).

Attractors create context, meaning that one’s motive, the result of principles, determines a person’s capacity to understand and so gives significance to their actions. Alignment with principles is a striking factor of good health.

The nervous system can differentiate between patterns that support or destroy life. High-power attractor energy fields release brain endorphins, strengthening the organs. Adrenaline, released in times of stress, suppresses immune responses.

This concept is the basis of treatments such as acupuncture and reflexology. They aim to correct an imbalance, but the underlying attitude must first change. Good health is associated with positive attitudes, which psychoanalysts call welfare emotions. Negative attitudes, called emergency emotions, weaken a person’s power. Stress is not itself a cause of illness; the attitudes that activate the stress are the cause.

Physical substances also affect health. For instance, artificial coloring makes the body “go weak”; organic vitamin C strengthens it. Hawkins laments the American Medical Association and National Council on Food and Nutrition’s lack of knowledge of the link between nutrition, behavior, and health. His own work on the subject has been ignored or deemed controversial.

Hawkins turns to the topic of the nature of the disease process with regard to attractor research. In his model, an idea presents itself as an attitude, which is associated with an attractor energy field of corresponding power or weakness. The result is a perception of the world.

Hawkins claims that kinesiologic testing shows that certain acupuncture points are linked with specific attitudes. Meridians, or pathways of energy, connect attitudes to the body’s organs, so there is a heart meridian, a gallbladder meridian, and so on.

Hawkins returns to concepts from chaos theory, focusing on the associated law of sensitive dependence—by which a small change in a pattern of inputs can significantly change an output—to discuss the process by which a negative worldview leads to disease. When a negative worldview dominates the mind, changes in energy flows to various organs result. By the law of sensitive dependence, these changes eventually become discernible through medical testing in the form of disease. Following this scheme of disease formation, Hawkins argues that all diseases are reversible by “changing thought patterns and habitual responses” (199).

This scheme explains why people in AA don’t begin to recover until they experience a radical change in personality, in which they identify with positive attractor patterns such as love and laughter. Similarly, a lifelong affliction can heal with a shift of attitude, though that shift may take years of inward preparation. Compassion for oneself and others is critical in this process.

Hawkins concludes the chapter by saying that death itself is merely an illusion. Life continues after death, unimpeded by the limitation of perception that is manifested in the physical body. Consciousness “survives beyond the body in a different realm of existence” (203).