What gives you more power?

[Birdjaguar]

Lazy is the path to the math side. Lazy leads to optimization. Optimization leads to calculation. Calculation leads to suffering

Aha, Buddhism is the answer!

 

[Hygro]

Lazy definitely leads to letting others do your math…

 

[citizenofdoom]

Lazy definitely leads to letting others do your math…

Ahh, totally forgot that I live in the internet age. People have "search-first" policy.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Ahh, totally forgot that I live in the internet age. People have "search-first" policy.

Oh gosh no. We have spout drivel as our first policy. We only begin to search when someone calls us out, and we need to find some unhinged blog to quote as proof we are correct!

 

[Quintillus]

There are too many variables to say, really. But I find it interesting that Advanced Math is leading the vote, I wouldn't have thought about that one. I could see the angle of math/statistics/analysis skills being valuable, allowing you to understand what's going on better. It's certainly helpful in getting a good job, and you could say it gives you power at your job because for many jobs that lets you be more effective, get skilled positions, etc.

Media representation... what does "of your identity" mean? If it's, "of people who share general characteristics with you", I don't think it gives you much power at all. Sure, it removes power if you people who are generally like you are systematically excluded. But in any decent-sized society, there are going to be tons of people who share your general characteristics.

But if it's you, personally, having your identity, or your set of beliefs, broadcast, that can be very powerful. If you lead a movement, and are very media-savvy and get lots of airtime, that can drastically increase your number of opportunities and thus your power. So I really think it depends on how widely or narrowly "identity" is defined.

The language to discuss power structures gives some amount of power, in that it likely corresponds with some understanding of how those power structures work, and thus how you can apply influence to get desired results. Someone who can navigate politics in the workplace will be more effective and influential than someone who can't, and the same applies more broadly in society as well. If you really want to climb the career ladder, it's arguably more important to be adept at the politics than to be really good at, say, advanced math, although it depends to some extent on the company, and the math/math-adjacent skills are likely more important to reach a solid mid-level position of regional influence. But it still requires understanding the power structure, not just discussing, it to add effectiveness and power. Social justice education? That I'm less knowledgeable about, but I could see where it could add to that effectiveness in some situations.

Thus.

1. Media representation, if "identity" is defined narrowly
2. Advanced math/related skills, via a successful career
3. Ability to discuss power structures. Still have to understand it for it to really make a difference.
4. Media representation, if "identity" is defined widely
5. Counter-insurgency training. Unless you're running a country/military that's fighting an insurgency, then it takes the top position, but not many people are in that situation.

 

[citizenofdoom]

1. Media representation, if "identity" is defined narrowly
2. Advanced math/related skills, via a successful career

I could see the angle of math/statistics/analysis skills being valuable, allowing you to understand what's going on better. It's certainly helpful in getting a good job, and you could say it gives you power at your job because for many jobs that lets you be more effective, get skilled positions, etc.

You underestimate the power of the Math Side. If you do not compute, then you will meet your destiny.
----------------------------------------------
Btw, isn't understanding mathematics can make people find uses of it into their real-life trivial things?
I haven't gotten into advanced mathematics so I don't really know how valuable it is to others.
I could see the usage of harmonic analysis in exploratory behavior research, but I'm not sure because I haven't learnt harmonic analysis.
What I merely do to understand people is just using some discrete things.
(I only know basic discrete math. Group theory seems to have applications in analyzing sets of people.)

 

[Hygro]

Media representation as in the dove commercials have women of your skin color, the movie romance is your orientation etc

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Of the 4 given I chose the top one because “public figures” have an enormous sway over the average person’s opinion- much more than people think or like to admit - but I don’t think it’s particularly high when compared against everything. Wealth, property, advanced understanding of law, large social network are just some that come to the top of my head as more powerful.

 

[really]

I was going to say maths never got me anywhere, but a good mark in a college maths exam definitely helped me get onto a subsequent course, which in turn got me into employment.

 

[cardgame]

Power, specifically as effecting longstanding changes in society, to whatever degree. This list is meant to be limited, so I appreciate your participation.

the language to discuss power structures and pro-insurgency training*

*for legal reasons this is a joke

 

[Farm Boy]

Him phrasing that wrong is why I'm not voting.

 

[Lexicus]

Him phrasing that wrong is why I'm not voting.

It could have been intentional tho

 

[Farm Boy]

I don't think it was a mistake!

I suppose it's interchangeable to a degree.

Edit: ah, what the hell. No power for the people without sacrifice, and nobody is personally anything much without their people. That'll have to be close enough.

 

[IglooDame]

I'd have picked option 4 but #1 the opportunity to use that power has not presented itself to me yet and #2 I don't own an Armalite. So we'll go option 1.

 

[Narz]

Media representation as in the dove commercials have women of your skin color, the movie romance is your orientation etc

If you need some actor in a dove commercial to validate your existence you need to turn off the TV and call the suicide hotline.

Every ad I see makes me hate the person in the ad, I think that's why people romanticize native americans, when's the last time you've seen one selling you some bull*?

Seeing someone 'like you' (cuz what matters is superficial stuff like your skin, accent and what sex you want to bang) only means that advertisers value you enough to hook you to their nonsense and dictate who you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to buy.

Don't conform, be a punk, when you see someone on TV (or even youtube on Instagram) realize that person is an actor and unless you know them personally you have no f-in' idea who they are or anything about their 'identity' whatsoever.

 

[IglooDame]

If you need some actor in a dove commercial to validate your existence you need to turn off the TV and call the suicide hotline.

Every ad I see makes me hate the person in the ad, I think that's why people romanticize native americans, when's the last time you've seen one selling you some bull*?

Seeing someone 'like you' (cuz what matters is superficial stuff like your skin, accent and what sex you want to bang) only means that advertisers value you enough to hook you to their nonsense and dictate who you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to buy.

Don't conform, be a punk, when you see someone on TV (or even youtube on Instagram) realize that person is an actor and unless you know them personally you have no f-in' idea who they are or anything about their 'identity' whatsoever.

How about the trans person that recently did really well on Jeopardy? Or the one that is a Pennsylvania dept of health official? Or who won a bunch of Olympic medals back in the day then very publicly transitioned? Don't discount the power of role models - and yes I realize that "state-level dept of health official" isn't exactly what kids dream to be someday - but having people like you being on TV as actual people and not stereotypical villains or punching bags is both nice for me, and does help to sway the public generally.

 

[Gorbles]

Coming back to this because @Hygro asked nicely, but, uh, "money" isn't on the list. So I'm left with a bunch of less-than-ideal choices. Let's rate them individually, as best as I can on an Internet forum:

1. Media representation of your identity: I'm a straight white guy, so, uh, nah. And I'd argue that's a good thing. Definitely don't need more of it, there's plenty.
2. Social justice education and the language to discuss power structures: sure, this'd be useful. I suck at theory, and I suck at relating discussions out of the pit of interpersonal relationships that makes up us CFC OT posters. But money would still be more useful for me.
3. Advanced math skills: I went into software to avoid having to do maths beyond a certain point Still look at quaternions as something akin to forbidden knowledge. But my problem isn't learning things. I can pretty much learn anything I put my mind to. I could specialise into more traditional CompSci (and therefore maths) if I wanted to. I don't want to. Technically I guess this means I already have advanced math skills (at least compared to the average). I took maths further than the average, after all.
4. An Armalite and counterinsurgency training: if I didn't have a family? If I lived somewhere else? I mean, sure, perhaps. But honestly, nah, the need for guns is something that would only be relevant in a different life. Martial arts and body training? Sure. But that's back to money.

So why is my answer money? Because my main boundary is time. I'm a full-time software developer with two young kids, financial pressure (even if I'm making enough to live on, we still need more sleeping space as the kids get older), and hobbies that I don't want to ditch (water polo, video games testing, and so on). Money buys me time. Money buys me things like a web presence (which makes me more marketable). It buys me more / better clothes (which are generally always last on the priority list). It buys me networking. It lets me give more away. All of this increases "power" in basic terms, both personally and professionally.

In terms of what I spend my time doing, "social justice education and the language to discuss power structures" is probably the most useful (specifically the latter part - I'm always looking to educate myself on the former). But then that's also time that I don't have.

 

[Narz]

How about the trans person that recently did really well on Jeopardy? Or the one that is a Pennsylvania dept of health official? Or who won a bunch of Olympic medals back in the day then very publicly transitioned? Don't discount the power of role models - and yes I realize that "state-level dept of health official" isn't exactly what kids dream to be someday - but having people like you being on TV as actual people and not stereotypical villains or punching bags is both nice for me, and does help to sway the public generally.

That's cool. Nice to see people overcome and win. Those examples are people who worked hard and won something for themselves (& inspired their communities) rather than being placed on TV as a 'representation').

 

[Gorbles]

That's cool. Nice to see people overcome and win. Those examples are people who worked hard and won something for themselves (& inspired their communities) rather than being placed on TV as a 'representation').

Being "placed on TV" is important too. It's not like non-marginalised minorities always earn their spots with constant hard work. If you want something to be believable, representation matters. And it matters more given the history we have of ignoring it.

 

[Hygro]

Him phrasing that wrong is why I'm not voting.

You would have to be dumb as rocks for counter insurgency training to not function as insurgency training.