Definitions And Principles Of Power

Definitions And Principles Of Power

Definitions And Principles Of Power

Unit 1: Definitions and Principles of Power
follow all the instructions ,No plagiarism ,good  grammar , minim 350 words

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. categorize power relations as positive sum, zero sum, and negative sum;
2. recognize the “three faces of power”;
3. identify the close relationship between power and freedom;
4. compare influence as a quasi-form of power to other forms of power;
5. recognize power as an instrument versus as an end; and
6. assess the influence of historical and mythical precedents to power.

DISCUSION QUESTION:

Positive-, Zero-, and Negative-Sum Power Relations

Give examples from the last month or so where you participated in a positive-sum, a zero-sum, and a negative-sum power relation.  Describe what motivated you to participate in a negative-sum or a zero-sum relation?  Are there factors other than “power” that we should be considering?Definitions And Principles Of Power

Resources & Readings

Textbook

1. Boulding, K. E. (1989). The nature of power. In K. E. Boulding, Three faces of power (pp. 15-34). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Introduction: Everyday Illusions ix1. “I Think I Would Have Seen That” 1

   2. The Coach Who Choked 43

   3. What Smart Chess Players and Stupid Criminals Have in Common 80

   4. Should You Be More Like a Weather Forecaster or a Hedge Fund Manager? 116

   5. Jumping to Conclusions 150

   6. Get Smart Quick! 185

   Conclusion: The Myth of Intuition 224

   Ac know ledg ments 243

   Notes 247

   Index 291

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   I N T R O D U C T I O N

   everyday illusions

   “There are three things extremely hard: steel,

   a diamond, and to know one’s self.”

   —Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1750)

   About twelve years ago, we conducted a simple experiment with the students in a psychology course we were teaching at Harvard University. To our surprise, it has become one of the best- known experiments in psychology. It appears in textbooks and is taught in introductory psychology courses throughout the world. It has been featured in magazines such as Newsweek and The New Yorker and on tele vi sion programs, including Dateline NBC. It has even been exhib- ited in the Exploratorium in San Francisco and in other museums. The experiment is pop u lar because it reveals, in a humorous way, something unexpected and deep about how we see our world— and about what we don’t see.

   You’ll read about our experiment in the fi rst chapter of this book. As we’ve thought about it over the years, we’ve realized that it illustrates a broader principle about how the mind works. We all believe that we are

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   x INTRODUCTION

   capable of seeing what’s in front of us, of accurately remembering im- portant events from our past, of understanding the limits of our knowl- edge, of properly determining cause and effect. But these intuitive beliefs are often mistaken ones that mask critically important limita- tions on our cognitive abilities.

   We must be reminded not to judge a book by its cover because we take outward appearances to be accurate advertisements of inner, un- seen qualities. We need to be told that a penny saved is a penny earned because we think about cash coming in differently from money we al- ready have. Aphorisms like these exist largely to help us avoid the mis- takes that intuition can cause. Likewise, Benjamin Franklin’s observation about extremely hard things suggests that we should question the intui- tive belief that we understand ourselves well. As we go through life, we act as though we know how our minds work and why we behave the way we do. It is surprising how often we really have no clue.

   The Invisible Gorilla is a book about six everyday illusions that pro- foundly infl uence our lives: the illusions of attention, memory, confi – dence, knowledge, cause, and potential. These are distorted beliefs we hold about our minds that are not just wrong, but wrong in dangerous ways. We will explore when and why these illusions affect us, the conse- quences they have for human affairs, and how we can overcome or min- imize their impact.

   We use the word “illusions” as a deliberate analogy to visual illusions like M. C. Escher’s famous never- ending staircase: Even after you realize that something about the picture as a whole is not right, you still can’t stop yourself from seeing each individual segment as a proper staircase. Everyday illusions are similarly per sis tent: Even after we know how our beliefs and intuitions are fl awed, they remain stubbornly resistant to change. We call them everyday illusions because they affect our behav- ior literally every day. Every time we talk on a cell phone while driving, believing we’re still paying enough attention to the road, we’ve been af- fected by one of these illusions. Every time we assume that someone who misremembers their past must be lying, we’ve succumbed to an illusion. Every time we pick a leader for a team because that person expresses the

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   INTRODUCTION xi

   most confi dence, we’ve been infl uenced by an illusion. Every time we start a new project convinced that we know how long it will take to com- plete, we are under an illusion. Indeed, virtually no realm of human be- havior is untouched by everyday illusions.

   As professors who design and run psychology experiments for a living, we’ve found that the more we study the nature of the mind, the more we see the impact of these illusions in our own lives. You can develop the same sort of x-ray vision into the workings of your own mind. When you fi nish this book, you will be able to glimpse the man behind the curtain and some of the tiny gears and pulleys that govern your thoughts and be- liefs. Once you know about everyday illusions, you will view the world differently and think about it more clearly. You will see how illusions affect your own thoughts and actions, as well as the behavior of every- one around you. And you will recognize when journalists, managers, advertisers, and politicians— intentionally or accidentally— take advan- tage of illusions in an attempt to obfuscate or persuade. Understanding everyday illusions will lead you to recalibrate the way you approach your life to account for the limitations— and the true strengths— of your mind. You might even come up with ways to exploit these insights for fun and profi t. Ultimately, seeing through the veils that distort how we perceive ourselves and the world will connect you— for perhaps the fi rst time— with reality.

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