Power is not only an aphrodisiac, it does weird things to some of us...

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"'Nearly all men can stand adversity,' said Abraham Lincoln, 'but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.'"

Power is not only an aphrodisiac, it does weird things to some of us | Full Page
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Once I had so much power I could raise & lower my cholesterol at will.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I am invincible. My power is so great that I can make any man do exactly what he wants to.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I'm so powerful I can allow HeySal to let me do exactly as I want. :rolleyes:

    Seriously though, I thought this was very interesting: "LBJ biographer Robert Caro observed that power doesn't corrupt; it reveals. Research by UC Berkeley psychology Professor Serena Chen suggests that people who are naturally selfish grow even more selfish if they attain power, while people who are naturally selfless and giving become more so with power."

    I've heard the same thing said about money.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author ReplenishSEO
    i haven't had such large amounts of power yet. I wonder how'd I'd fair.


    Power comes with immense amounts of stress sometimes too...
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    All kidding aside, it was pretty interesting. It was also blood chilling when you think of the people we have in power today for precisely the point that Dennis stressed.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    What kinds of people seek power? Good people?
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    Project HERE.

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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      What kinds of people seek power? Good people?
      Brings to mind the old Robert Heinlein dictum that people who seek public office should be forbidden from holding it.


      Paul
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      Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

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      • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Brings to mind the old Robert Heinlein dictum that people who seek public office should be forbidden from holding it.


        Paul
        I used to have a voracious appetite for science fiction. Had quite a collection of Robert Heinlein novels. Some SF stories even sort of serve as moral paradigms for me even now, though I read them as a child.
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    • Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

      What kinds of people seek power? Good people?
      I'm not so sure good people seek power - I think as the the saying goes: "Good people have power thrust upon them".

      As above, the selfless engage power to enact change, or help humanity - whereas the selfish use it to greedy ends, control, and for some, absolute unbridled evil.

      Can the good be corrupted by power? And can the corrupted be powered by good?
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      • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
        Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate View Post

        I'm not so sure good people seek power <snip>
        Agreed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chronic IM
    Hello! Power makes everyone do weird and unlikely things (talking about politics kekeke), even the people you think can't do bad things, power could change all of them. But if you think through so much and find ways to handle things as big as power, maybe there wouldn't be catastrophe and can bring out "World Peace" (broad, ain't it?). Oh well, there are things in life that are kept a mystery.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    There's a reason that anarchy is such a long surviving, yet little tested, philosophy.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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