Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior (1995) by psychiatrist David R. Hawkins explores the interplay between power and force in human life, presenting a framework for understanding how consciousness influences decision-making, ethics, and personal growth. Drawing on concepts from psychology, spirituality, and kinesiology, Hawkins argues that true power stems from alignment with higher consciousness, while force is rooted in ego and coercion. He asserts that his “Map of Consciousness” applies a scientific model to concepts of self-realization.

This study guide uses the Kindle edition published by Hay House in 2012.

Summary

Part 1, “Tools,” explains the scientific developments that fostered the evolution of Hawkins’s book, including research on kinesiology or muscle testing, the advancement of computers, and the development of nonlinear dynamics study, including chaos theory. Hawkins claims that data previously considered chaotic could now be seen to have hidden energy patterns called “attractors.” Some patterns have high energy and some, weaker energy.

Hawkins believes that human consciousness evolves in a process of attractor patterns of increasing power. On Hawkins’s “Map of Consciousness,” these patterns range from 1 to 1,000, with most human experience falling within 1-600. Levels from 1-200 calibrate to weak/negative attractor patterns, while those from 600-1000 belong to what he regards as “enlightened beings.”

Hawkins conducted the research for his map on various continents over a 20-year period, making millions of calibrations. His results were generally both identical and reproducible. His method, rooted in the field of kinesiology, tested the effect of statements on a subject’s muscle strength, represented by the tester’s ability to push down the subject’s arm. Negative attractor patterns, those below 200 on his scale, caused an arm to “go weak.” Positive patterns, those above 200, meant the tester could not push down the subject’s arm.

The levels on the map, presented in Chapter 3, range from “weak” categories such as Shame and Fear to Courage, associated with level 200. Above 200, the categories that make a subject “go strong” include unconditional Love, at level 500; Peace, level 600; and Enlightenment, levels 700-1,000. He argues that the highest level, 1,000, has been attained by three enlightened beings: Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ.

Hawkins argues that the scale can transform one’s understanding of causality. He claims that there are no real causes, only effects, because it is how one reacts to an event that determines its effect. It works logarithmically, with each point representing 10 times the power of the point below it.

Most of the human race, 85%, calibrates below level 200, while the average level of human consciousness is 204. Human satisfaction cannot begin until level 250, where simple housing and food are available, among other necessities. People can move from one level to another, but typically the energy field calibrated for a person at birth only increases by about five points, since people tend to identify with their lower ego levels.

Hawkins considers the source of power and makes a distinction between power and force. True power emanates from consciousness itself and involves meaning, motive, and principle. It energizes and gives. Force, in contrast, constantly consumes and polarizes.

To explain power, Hawkins draws on the concept of morphogenetic fields, or M-fields, which are invisible organizational patterns. A similar process exists in the energy fields of consciousness. Every time a human makes a new breakthrough, such as mastering flight, a new M-field is created. M-fields can be repeated, reinforcing their power. Hawkins believes that chaos theory also helps to explain power. It assumes that an organizing pattern or energy field, which can be represented as ABC, results in the sequence that humans perceive as A causing B which causes C.

Part 2, called “Work,” looks at power patterns, presenting over 100 contrasting pairs of qualities that represent the distinction between power and force. Examples are “Abundant/Excessive” and “Beautiful/Glamorous.” It also looks at the difference between power and force in various aspects of life, including politics, where true leaders like Mahatma Gandhi stand for principles, while tyrants rule by force and exploit others.

Hawkins also looks at the contrast between high-energy attractor fields and low-energy ones in the marketplace, sports, the arts, and health and wellness. The example of Alcoholics Anonymous, which lifts people out of substance dependency through power patterns such as honesty and goodwill, is threaded through several chapters. Hawkins asserts that people must experience a radical change in personality in order to heal the body and the mind.

Part 3, “Meaning,” considers the role of the collective unconscious, which Hawkins defines as a pool of shared experiences that can be tapped by all people, as a sort of database that can answer any question. It operates on the principle that a question and answer are part of an underlying attractor field or “ABC pattern” that includes both events. Only enlightened individuals can understand the pattern, which exists out of time.

Hawkins’s Map of Consciousness has two critical turning points. At level 200, people accept responsibility for their actions. At level 500, they accept unconditional love and forgiveness as a lifestyle.

Hawkins considers the role of perception in the experience of reality. At lower levels of consciousness, one might see negative aspects of a situation where, at higher levels, positive aspects can be seen. The mind tries to protect its “correctness” by denying other possibilities, resulting in the relatively small advancement in consciousness within most lifetimes.

Context, including reason, limits perception. Only the enlightened can experience “pure” consciousness, which involves a perception of timelessness and oneness. Pure consciousness represents the infinite energy source, which may be called Deity, God, or Divinity. Hawkins argues that spiritual work is difficult because it involves separation from the lower energy fields. Seekers of change can benefit from the help of teachers and can even temporarily elevate their own energy patterns through contact with people at a higher level.

Hawkins considers how great religions have lost energy through the centuries depending on their involvement in worldly affairs. He reiterates the idea that 85% of the world’s population calibrates below 200, but since the scale of power advances logarithmically, the remaining 15% of the population can counterbalance the 85%. The sheer power of loving thoughts far outweighs the influence of negative ones, and with the average worldwide consciousness above 200, transformation is possible.