Power vs. force
In 1995, psychiatrist David Hawkins published Power vs. Force. The book describes a scale of human consciousness. Higher levels have power that energizes and unifies. Lower levels use force that consumes and polarizes.
Enlightenment 700–1,000
Peace 600
Joy 540
Love 500
Reason 400
Acceptance 350
Willingness 310
Courage 200
Pride 175
Anger 150
Desire 125
Fear 100
Grief 75
Apathy 50
Guilt 30
Shame 20
According to Hawkins, all levels below 200 are destructive to you and society. Unfortunately, 85% of the world’s population calibrates here.
Power first appears at level 200: Courage. You learn, grow, and overcome obstacles that defeat people at lower levels. This is the level of blue-collar workers, tradespeople, and retail commerce.
At level 350: Acceptance, you have a major insight—you can create the experience of your life. It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. Instead, you set goals and solve problems. This is the level of managers, artisans, and educators.
At level 400: Reason, you can handle large amounts of complex data and make correct decisions. This is the level of scientists, executives, intellectuals, and statesmen. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Isaac Newton calibrate at 499. Paradoxically, reason is a block to reaching higher levels—intellectual brilliance misses the essence of things.
At level 500: Love, you have an intuitive understanding of the whole. You forgive, nurture, and support everyone. Worldly needs and possessions are irrelevant. Excellence is common. Motivation comes from personal principles and altruism. Great music, art, and architecture are created here. Only 4% reach this level of true happiness.
Level 540: Joy is the domain of spiritual healers and saints. You have enormous compassion and patience. You spread love and serenity. Only 0.4% reach this level.
Finally, only 1 in 10 million reaches level 600: Peace. Mother Theresa calibrates at 700. Mahatma Gandhi calibrates at 760. Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ calibrate at 1,000.
People are doing the best that they can from their own level of consciousness.
-Deepak Chopra
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
-William James
Personal notes
As a medical doctor and scientist, I’m skeptical that consciousness can be quantified like this. That being said, Power vs. Force has improved my understanding of people and my spiritual growth.
On another note, my life has followed Hawkins’ scale. I was in my mid-20s when I realized I had the freedom (and responsibility) to choose my own path. Until then, I had neglected my feelings in favor of parents, teachers, and experts. Since then, I try listening to both my logic and intuition.
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.
-Aristotle
The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse.
-Carlos Castaneda
References
Wang Y et al. (2017). Meta‐analytic investigations of the relation between intuition and analysis. Behavioral Decision Making. 30(1): 15–25.
A meta-analysis of 80 studies with 27,501 participants found that analytical vs. intuitive thinking styles were independent measures, rather than opposite ends of a continuum
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