Power is not a means, it is an end.

I would like to in advance thank LaughingHyena for making his debate interesting to read. I would also like to state that I still, do in fact believe that power is always the core end. To do this I present the twelve examples That were posted as various ends. 1. Money- comes from a desire to have power, but it is temporary of course. 2. Love- comes from a desire to procreate to ensure your genes immortality thus ensuring the future garnerng of more power. From a motherly point it ensures protection of the continuation of your gene pool. From a foster parent love ensures that your ideas will pe passed on, thus ensuring some sembleance of your personality, thus ensuring the garnering of more power. 3. Fame- people desire to be admired so than not only will their ideas be spread to a much wider audience, they will have a form of power over their fan base. 4. Sex- see love above. 5. Respect- if people respect you then they will listen to you, if they listen to you you are giving them your ideas, which in turn gives you power over them. 6. Security- guarantees security for yourself thus guranteeing security in your aquisition for power. 7. Revenge- someone has taken part of your power, and revenge stems from the idea that vengeance will get it back. 8. Knowledge- knowledge IS power. 9. Freedom- freedom guarantees the ability to pursue more power. 10. Glee- glee gives off to many the same emotion of having power. Core idea- of corse anyone could come up with quite literally the millions of drives and goals that are desire for an end, but take this into account, a person who enjoys killing, whether they have taboos such as who, what, or how they kill still, at their core, enjoys killing. In this we see that the taboos are examples of the ends we believe to epdesire (sex, prestige, wealth etc) while the fact that at their cores killers enjoy killing is the same as how at our own cores the sole end we desire is power. Also, it is true that power encompasses all desires. Rebuttals... "How can it be, though, that in the midst of all of our own specific, all-encompassing monomania for the one single end that will ever truly make us happy and render us complete we all share a similar and equally potent drive (at times superseding) to attain power?" As I have illustrated above, despite the fact that in our minds we might all desire something aside from power, in practice that is the only end we desire to reach. Of course the desire for power is superseding, because as you yourself said, power encompasses all other drives (or ends). "This is consistent with accounts of notable figures who have achieved the highest ranks of power and prestige, but still remain unhappy, " Recent studies have shown that 50% of our own happiness is genetic, while ten percent derives from external sources (such as power) even if this study is false, our own happiness is irrelevant to the pursuit and drive to obtain power. For example, fear is a powerful genetic emotion, but very few enjoy it accept for those who need to recieve it artificially, and even then they know secretly that they are safe so the fear is artificial. "A hermit could exult in endless joy for his station of isolation and solitude, despite possessing exactly zero power over his fellow humans; all the power and dominion in the whole world could fail to please a deranged philatelist if it meant separation from his prized stamp collection." I might ask the fact that very few hermits actually exist. In some ways, they are the mentally ill of the human race because kf their lack of desire for power. They are few and far between, because when it comes to power, they are like the mentally ill. We do not expect the mentally ill to experience human emotion in the same way the masses do do we? ( of course this does nkt mean there is anything inherently wrong with hermits, they are simply different.) Philatelist stem from the same vine as hoarders, hoarders to desire things, but in this way they believe by doing this they amass power. A philatelist might be the same way. Even if they arent, there are always a small fraction of people who are different, like the mentally ill. ( one more I remind people there is nothing inherently wrong with philatelists.) "the desired end of self-destruction and Thanatos can very commonly be observed in the human race, and destruction and defeat would seem to entail, by definition, a state of powerlessness." It does entail a state of powerlessness. But, a person cannot resist their most primal drives, no matter how hard they trie. A person who is violent naturally cannot resist their compulsion for long, in the same way that someone who knows there tendedncies will lead them to death, (heroin addict leading to overdose) cannot stave off their addiction for long just like how the desire for power, unless through a abnormality, cannot be staved off for long. Thank you very much for this debate, I have found it both insightful and thought provoking. By the way make your debates as long as you please, I don not mind and enjoy reading them. Sources: http://thehappinesscoach.biz...