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Psychological Power
After reading various literature and studying history I have identified psychological power as one of the most influential powers that influence our lives. Works like Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens), A Midsummer Night�s Dream (William Shakespeare), Leaving Nirvana (Oliver Sacks), and After the Deluge (Peter Campbell) all support this idea. There are also many examples in history, some of which will be briefly discussed.
In Oliver Twist, the power of mind wins over any other kind of power. A lack of psychological power exhibited by Oliver himself had tragic consequences al throughout the book. Oliver was a young innocent child, not very powerful psychologically. He trusted many people, which always got him into trouble and various lures. If Oliver never met the psychologically powerful and educated people he did, like Mr.Brownlow, Mrs.Maylie, and some others, he would have never found out about his family�s and his own true past. If not for the wisdom of Mr.Brownlow, Fagin�s gang would have not come to an end and innocent young children, just like Oliver, would have been lured there.
However unfortunately, the power of mind almost helped a killer escape. After Sikes killed Nancy, he had to have a strategy to help him escape and not be found. One of the smart things he did was making his dog run away. If he did not do that the dog would have attracted attention and he would have been caught sooner. Though, in the end, Sikes returned to one of the gang�s meeting places, which was not a smart thing to do because it was likely that he would be haunted down there, and he was.
In A Midsummer Night�s Dream, the course of events is affected by the characters� power of mind in various situations. Hermia and Lysander have a good idea to run away together. This is probably the only thing they can do to make thing go their way, because they do not have much power over Hermia�s father or the duke of Athens. Although they have this great idea they make a mistake by telling Helena about their plan. As a result, Helena takes the opportunity to tell Demetrius about the plan and steal his heart by doing so, which, in a way, was a smart move for her. Oberon exhibits strong mind power when he remembers that the flower�s juice will make someone fall in love with the next living creature they see. He decides to use the juice on Titania so that she would give him the boy. He expects her to give him the boy as a reward after he released her from the spell. That was an interesting thing to do and it is probably the most useful in this situation.
Leaving Nirvana is mainly about psychological power. It is about how highly educated parents have to use their mind power in order to make their daughter Jessy Park more acquainted with the social world. Both the parents and the child are psychologically powerful but in different ways. Jessy is autistic. This characteristic affects her social relations, but on the other hand she may be considered a genius because she can correlate many things together in �systems� � an ability not many people have. She can also make precise paintings. In her own little world she is very Psychologically powerful but in our world she cannot explain or express her power freely. Her parents are very smart because they help her become more social and at the same time they consider her individuality and let her express herself so that she leads a somewhat happy life, which is very important for her character�s well being. The parents have a lot of will power, which helps them and their daughter. This story is about how important strong psychological power is.
After the Deluge illustrates how important psychological power is to understand things that are going on in this world. �First the rainbow brought messages, later it demanded explanations.� After seeing a rainbow people started wondering why and where it came from. Different cultures and religious groups assumed different theories. Many people were not powerful psychologically and they settled for other people�s beliefs and did not care much about it. But, there were so many theories that some started wondering which one, if any, is the right one. Here came a need to analyze facts and research and experiment the unknown � a need for mind power. Without it we would have never had any inventions, or explanations for why things happen the way they do. So thanks to the mind powerful people we now know why certain things happen the way they do.
All throughout history we see the importance of strong psychological power. Cultures rich in inventions and good ideas have prospered throughout the world. For example, ancient Chinese civilizations have had numerous inventions and philosophies. Their culture prospered for thousands of years from extensive trade with Europe and other parts of the world. As we know the reason they were brought down was unwise ruling and lack of military strategy at the time of conquest.
The Roman Empire prospered and had a vast territory and many resources under the wise rulers, such as Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, and others. It was one of the most powerful empires in the world and influenced our lives for better. However in the end the empire split and collapsed because of barbarian attacks, political problems, and land issues, which the government did not have enough logic and strategy to control.
A great example of psychological power was exhibited by Countess Olga at the time of Kievan Russia. Her husband was killed by a village of people who did not want to pay their taxes. On a regular basis an army would be sent to that village to forcibly collect the tax and the conflict would have many bad consequences. However, Olga found a smarter way out. She peacefully asked for a pigeon from each house in that village. She knew that pigeons always return to their home so she gave each pigeon a burning straw and released them. The pigeons returned to their homes and the whole village was caught on fire because the houses were made out of wood. That way she got revenge for her husband�s death and scared people and they paid their taxes
As we move on to examine more recent history, we notice tyrannical leaders like Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolph Hitler. Both of these men did not exhibit much physical power but they managed to convince thousands of people to follow them. Those people most likely did not follow out of fear but did it out of interest of gaining more power and land. Napoleon and Hitler were very smart people because they had many strategies and ideas that would benefit them.
In conclusion, I would like to, once again, point out that psychological power has a great effect on our lives and views of the world that we live in. It has shaped our cultures since the beginning of known history. It has been improving our societies. The ideas, strategies, and inventions have made people�s lives easier and more comfortable. Without psychological power we would probably not be here.