Power Is Misunderstood: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business

Introduction Power Is Misunderstood

Returning to his flock after a bone-rattling storm, a shepherd sees a startling sight. In what had been undisturbed pastureland the day before lies a crevasse revealing an underground cavern. Stepping through the opening, the curious shepherd finds himself in a crypt containing an imposing bronze sculpture of a horse. Inside the statue is a cadaver wearing nothing but a gold ring. The shepherd pockets the ring and leaves. Soon afterward, he discovers that this is no ordinary ring; it's a magic ring that renders its wearer invisible. Realizing his newfound ability, the shepherd quickly plots his next moves: He makes his way to the palace, seduces the queen, murders the king, and takes control of the kingdom.

The shepherd's tale, the Ring of Gyges, appears in Plato's Republic, dating back to the fourth century BCE. The Greek philosopher's story has captivated human imaginations across the ages. Another tale about a ring that grants invisibility, along with other more sinister powers, has managed no small feat: keeping readers engaged for more than one thousand five hundred pages. This is none other than twentieth-century English writer J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the

POWER IS MISUNDERSTOOD

Rings, in which the One Ring corrupts its bearer with the promise of absolute dominance.

For millennia, people have told stories like the Ring of Gyges and The Lord of the Rings. In a folk tale from the Middle East, Aladdin, sent by an evil sorcerer to retrieve an oil lamp from an enchanted cave, discovers a genie who can grant him wishes. A Vietnamese legend recounts how King Lê Lợi liberated his people from Ming occupation in the fifteenth century, after a decade-long war, with the aid of the mythical sword Thuận Thiên (Heaven's Will). In Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, Alberich possesses a magic helmet that gives the wearer the ability to change form or become invisible. More recently, millions of readers have delighted in following Harry Potter's saga, which culminates in his search for the Deathly Hallows, a trio of enchanted objects that, together, allow their bearer to become Master of Death.

Tales of a protagonist setting out on a quest to find a magic object that will give him (or lately her) the ability to control their own destiny and triumph over evildoers exist in every culture. What these timeless stories share is also what makes them so enthralling: They are all fundamentally stories about power. The heroes and villains fight and kill to gain possession of the magic artifacts that can enable them to control not only their own fortunes, but also the behavior of others. This, after all, is what power ultimately is: the ability to influence another's behavior, be it through persuasion or coercion.