The Power Dynamics: What is power and how does it make us different.

This article aims at further clarifying the power dynamics.

What are these power dynamics?

How do people relate to power?

What are external and internal drives?

How does each type see the other?

"The phenomenon is not detached from the observer, but intertwined and involved with him.” - Maxims and Reflections, Goethe.

What is Power?

Power is the human capacity to shape reality. It can take place within oneself, between individuals or over circumstances and situations. It is not one substance, but a relation since it can dominate, align, sustain, or withdraw. It may reveal itself as force, influence, presence or absence; representing the measure behind action, the hidden law by which people test their strenght, their truth, their bonding / connection.

People relate to this power in 5 different ways:

Power-Over: Power as dominance, meaning in order to rise, one must subdue, to exist one must outpace. Others represent competitors, obstacles or instruments. In this realm of conquest, recognition and hierarchy respect is given to the strong.

Power-With: Power as harmony. To act means to align forces in order to strengthen bonds and grow together. Other are collaborators, companions in mutual betterment. In this worldview, strength is measured by what is build, not by what is defeated.

Power-Within: Power represents the interior law. The individual recognizes as authority truth, conscience and mastery. Others neither define nor diminish it. In this world of autonomy, conflict is unnecessary, validation becomes irrelevant; here stability becomes strength and the truth is in command.

Power-Withdrawn: Power as absence. Maintaining safety, even by remaining untouched or non-engaged, becomes the strategy. Others appear as threats, conflicts appear draining and standards or benchmarks become a burden.

Power-Distorted: Power as image, existend only if seen and confrimed. Others cannot be included into rivals or partners mostly, but as mirrors. Their presence either can validate or anihilate the narcissistic narrative. Conflict is constant as even equality feels threatening. This is a fragile realm, where the image must be defended at all costs.

"He who cannot live within himself will die without companions.” - Maxims and Reflections, Goethe

To keep it simple, you must rememeber:

• Some take power over others

• Some share power with others

• Some root power within themselves

• Some withdraw from power altogether

• Some distort power into illusion, forever dependent on one to be illusioned.

It is important to know that these are archetypal in nature, meaning most of us have both internal and external drives and we can act as driven by both. Moreover, in today's society the activities required for daily functioning involve both external and internal drives. Therefore, what seems to deviate from normal external / internal drives seems to be underfunctioning. This is described both in the nature of insular characteristics, which are lead by a power-withdrawn dynamic; and the studies into narcissism at the workplace for instance. However, for better understanding and reasoning, i will describe these power dynamics from the standspoint of a person predominantly externally / internally driven; narcissistic / insular; together with types of actions each might undertake. Most people might resonate or have resonated in the past with more than 1 type.

“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.” - The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

1. The External Drive / Predominantly Externally Driven Individual

The predominantly externally driven individual strives through contrast, having comparison as a law. They live by visible standards. Tangible markers of progress are victory, ranks, recognitions, status. Conflict is fuel, unpredictability is thrilling, energy is used in to obtain an achievement, being energised by the very persuit of it; and is likely to boast about what can be proven through recognition, victory, achievement; while they are being known for wanting to rise themselves above the other, or at least frequent enough to be observable.

This means the power dynamic is power-over.

Types of actions:

• Entering a tournament for the fuel they get from the crowd and the trophy, and not enjoyment of the game.

• Volunteering for a dificult task in expectance of the recognition or reward.

• Training hard, yet measuring their progress through medals, ranks, titles, achievements.

• Joining a cause for visibility, to be seen as part of a specific group identity.

How do they see the other?

Externally Driven - Internally Driven

They might see the internally driven as passive, without fun, joyless, lacking ambition, etc. The absence of visible competition looks like fear or weakness. They may seem to encourage the internally driven individual to join certain "games" out of interest in connection, or push them towards a competition of some sorts so they can use their defeat as a piece to their own puzzle (feeling like an achievement, or status confirmation), or others might feel the need to protect and instruct them. In reality, the other seems to be only oriented towards other benchmarks or standards.

Externally Driven - Narcissist

They may see the narcissist as too personal (unless masked by the narcissist by indifference, etc.), like the narcissist cannot separate the game form the self. The intensity of the narcissist and lack of accountability seem excessive, distabilising, even disruptive. They share, though not entirely, but the same kind of hunger for recognition, yet the narcissist is much, much less regulated in approach to hunger and hunger instensity. They may be the ones obeserving best the narcissist through its characteristics as purely self-centered and distructive to the other, as seen by the effects of narcissism in externally driven environments.

Externally Driven - Insular

They may see the insular as invisible, irrelevant. Refusal to play along or to be part of the "game" or any type of competition is interpreted as lack of contribution to the fields where value is measured.

“Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit.”  - The Road Less Traveled, Scott Peck

2. The Internal Drive / Predominantly Internally Driven Individual

The internally driven live by inward benchmarks. Truth, mastery, stability, and harmony are the measures by which they orient themselves. Conflict feels unnecessary, draining rather than energising, which means energy is conserved, directed with intention, and not wasted on artificial scenarios. Connection is looked for in depth, in stability, in the quiet betterment of self and other. Their power dynamic is power-with, grounded in alignment rather than opposition.

Types of actions:

• Practicing a skill in solitude, for the sake of mastery, even long after the show for example.

• Chosing to resolve a conflict quietly rather than parading in victory.

• Spending energy on what brings truth or growth, and not on desplay or demand.

• Working on problems nobody else sees, because the solution matters more than recognition or reward.

How do they see the other?

Internally Driven - Externally Driven

They may see the externally driven as shallow, lacking depth, trapped in vanity, or taking noise for meaning. The obsessiveness with scores, recognition, external standards feels like blindness to truth for the predominantly internally driven individual. They struggle to see the point of spending energy without reaching for growth, mastery, harmony, alignment, betterment.

Internally Driven - Narcissist

They can see the narcissist as exhausting due to being caught in needless wars. The perpetual defense of their self-image is draining even to witness.

Internally Driven - Insular

They can see the insular with mixed feelings: part as a wounded, kindred soul, avoiding conflict; and part as someone failing to reach towards truth.

“In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments.” - The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

3. The Narcissist / Extreme Externally Driven Individual

The narcissist transforms external striving into a personal war. For them, standards are not indicators of growth but confirmations of identity. Every opponent is experienced as a threat; every contest is existential. Conflict is central, not incidental. Energy is consumed defensively, guarding a fragile construct of superiority. Connection reduces to admiration or use. Their power dynamic is an unstable power-over, dependent on the diminishment of others.

Types of actions:

• Turning conversations into contests that would make them look preferential in contrast to others.

• Sabotaging another's success, as it feels equivalent to personal loss.

• Masking insecurity by exagerating achievements, victories, titles; while diminishing those of others.

• Demanding recognition, or higher praise when their contribution was minimal.

How do they see the other?

Narcissist - Externally Driven

They may see the externally driven individual as managemble rivals, acceptable only as long as the admirations comes back to them. They often project their own insecurities on them, assuming others play for survival too, but are just not as good.

Narcissist - Internally Driven

They tend to see the internally driven individual as cold, arrogant or dismissive. Their presence feels like a threat since they don't join "games" and don't supply admiration. Their alignment to truth can destabilize the narcissistic narrative, thus the narcissist feels the fear of unpredictable unmasking.

Narcissist - Insular

They can see the insular as insignificant, yet still annoying, unsettling since their withdrawal of attention is interpreted as rejection by the narcissist.

"The truly evil are those who cannot accept responsibility for themselves and project all blame onto others.”  - People of the Lie, Scott Peck

4. The Insular / Extreme Internally Driven Individual

The insular retreat from both external contests and internal mastery. Benchmarks lose meaning, conflict overwhelms, and striving itself is avoided. Energy is withheld, guarded against expenditure. Connection is minimal, often absent, not from preference for depth but from avoiding demands or fear of intrusion. Their power dynamic is power-withdrawn, resting in isolation as the only secure ground.

Types of actions:

• Refusing to joing group project out of fear of exposure.

• Avoiding competition not to conserve energy, but to avoid risk.

• Decline friendship offers out of fear of demanded closeness.

• Withdrawing from responsibilities, trying to escape the weight of engagement.

How do they see the other?

Insular - Externally Driven

They may see the externally driven individual as wasteful, noisy, endlessly burning energy for empty prizes and recognitions.

Insular - Internally Driven

They tend to see the internally driven as admiring even, yet still too engaged. Even truth seeking seems vain for the insular.

Insular - Narcissist

Narcissists are seen as dangerous, disruptive, intrusive, threatening to control them. For the insular in such dynamics, withdrawal feels like the only defense.

Power is revealed through every human action, every bond, every contest, and every silence. It appears as dominance, alignment, interior law, absence, or fragile image. None of these forms exist in isolation; each person carries more than one, shifting with circumstance and intention. The measure of power is not in its possession, but in its use: whether it shapes, sustains, or diminishes life. As Solomon concludes, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

All power is relation; its quality tells wether we create, destroy, or withdraw from life itself. However, it seems a tragic consistency that all sorts of evil arise when a man wants to be preferred over another.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this article.