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Comment by eointierney | Hacker News Reader

Power is the ability to do work quickly.

If some is arguing, and they are more powerful, they can "work through" argumentation faster than you. Therefore someone who is more powerful than you can argue faster and more effectively.

If you wish to disagree you must be both demonstrably correct and able to provide the work.

"Here's one I prepared earlier" is most effective as long as the preparation is demonstrably correct.

Take your time, make sure you know how to argue all aspects clearly and fully, and be patient. The powerful, such as they are, tend to be impatient.

The wise let others work, both separately and together, and build on all available agreement.

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> Power is the ability to do work quickly

This is absolutely not the definition of power. Perhaps it should be, but in the real world there is only a tenuous correlation between competence and power.

When a person has attained power, they are often less compelled to provide sound argumentation for a perspective or solution. This can be expedient, assuming competence, but it can also lead to anything from wasted resources to the downfall of empires.

Rather than placing the onus on those with less power, I'd say those with more power should remain humble and open to new perspectives, and impatience should be taken as a signal to guide those with less power, experience, and/or skill.

We can rephrase it - power is the ability to bring a lot of work capacity to bear, e.g. of other people.

> Power is the ability to do work quickly

This only makes sense if you’re talking about the physics equation P=W/t

This is a good way of summing up the effect. Although power also has the ability to screw up quickly unchecked, because they can bulldoze badly thought through ideas into action.

In physics that's absolutely right. Work per unit time.

In stereoscopic reality, it's the ability to do what you will. Will. Will to power.

For good or evil, it's up to you. You need power to do good, in fact more power generally.

What is stereoscopic reality? Especially with regard to the anthropomorphic notion of Will?

Why does it take more power to do good than evil?

Does dimensional analysis apply?

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