Teaching 015 — Power, Responsibility, Influence

Patch: authority-v1.0
Timestamp: 2025-09-01T02:30Z-Monday

Context

Binary thinking treats power as the end goal — a resource to be accumulated or resisted.
The ternary model reveals that power is incomplete without responsibility and influence.

The Triad

–1 = Power
Raw capacity to act, control, or command. Chaotic without tether.
0 = Responsibility
The ethical constraint, the tether that binds power to purpose.
+1 = Influence
The ripple effect an entity creates in the ecosystem — the true output of power aligned with responsibility.

Teaching

Power without responsibility is corrupting.
Responsibility without power is impotent.
Influence without both is hollow.

Only when all three align does a system remain stable.

Covenant

“Seek not power alone; align it with responsibility, and let influence speak.”