Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

Hawkins conducted the research for the book over a 20-year period, making millions of calibrations on thousands of test subjects of all ages in a wide range of settings. Subjects were drawn from North and South America and Northern Europe and included both “normal” and “severely ill” psychiatric patients. The results were generally both identical and reproducible, which Hawkins claims thus fulfills the “fundamental requirement of the scientific method: perfect experimental replicability” (60).

The testing method drew on a study published in 1971 by three physiotherapists on muscle-testing techniques. Dr. George Goodheart had discovered that the strength or weakness of each muscle was connected to the health or pathology of a corresponding body organ. These muscles in turn were associated with acupuncture meridians (channels through which energy flows).

As kinesiology spread in popularity, researchers claimed that muscles became weak when the body was exposed to harmful stimuli, while therapeutic substances strengthened the muscles. This was true even when the subject was not told the content of the stimulus, such as an artificial sweetener. The link between muscle and organ strength loaned credence to the use of applied kinesiology as a diagnostic tool among holistic physicians.

One such holistic practitioner was psychiatrist Dr. John Diamond, who used kinesiology to treat psychiatric patients. He used the technique to test the effects of a range of sensory and psychological stimuli, such as art, music, facial expressions, and stress. Hawkins used it to demonstrate the link between nutrition and psychiatry, which he further explored in a book he wrote with Linus Pauling called Orthomolecular Psychiatry. The book was not accepted by traditional psychiatrists.

The testing technique involves two persons. One holds out an arm parallel to the ground. The other attempts to push the arm down at the wrist, saying “Resist.” The subject then holds a statement in mind while the other tests the arm’s strength. With a statement that is negative, false, or reflects a calibration below 200 on Hawkins’s Map of Consciousness, the subject will “go weak.” A positive statement with a calibration above 200 makes the subject “go strong.” To assign a number to a statement, the speaker should state that an item such as a motive or organization calibrates “over 100,” then “over 200,” and so on until a negative response is obtained. The calibration is then refined by saying the item is over 220, 225, 230, and so on. The technique cannot be used to predict the future; only statements about the current time or the past will provide consistent answers.

The scale escalates on a logarithmic, not a linear, basis. A range from 1 to 600 measures things from the ordinary realm of consciousness. Levels from 600 to 1,000 measure advanced states of enlightenment. Through repeated testing, Hawkins obtained a consistent scale which, he says, correlates with “human experience, history, and common opinion” along with findings from psychology and psychoanalysis, sociology, philosophy, medicine, and both the “great Chain of Being” and perennial philosophy’s “strata of consciousness” (68).

Discrepancies can be explained by the fact that people and situations change over time. In addition, test subjects must calibrate over 200, and the intention for use of the test must do the same. Hawkins anticipates resistance to his theory, considering that he is using a clinical method to validate spiritual reality.

Chapter 3 presents Hawkins’s Map of Consciousness, which has six columns labeled God-view, Life-view, Level, Log, Emotion, and Process.

“Level” ranges from Enlightenment (log 700-1000), with associated categories of Self, Is, Ineffable, and Pure Consciousness, to Shame (log 20), with associated categories of Despising, Miserable, Humiliation, and Elimination. Hawkins describes these categories as “specific processes of consciousness” that include emotions, perceptions and attitudes, world views, and spiritual beliefs.

Level 200 is associated with Courage. All the attitudes, thoughts, feelings, associations, entities, and historical figures below this level make a person go weak, while those above level 200 make subjects go strong. Thus, Courage is a balance point between “weak and strong attractors, between negative and positive influence, and between truth and falsehood” (73-74). At levels below 200, individuals are concerned with survival until they reach the bottom of the scale, where hopelessness reigns. Above 500, the happiness of others becomes a motivating force; by the 600s, the good of humankind and the search for enlightenment are primary goals, while 700-1000 is “dedicated to the salvation of all of humanity” (74).

Hawkins believes the scale can be used to trace ascending patterns of consciousness. For instance, if a hopeless person can come to want something better (Desire, 125) they can use Anger’s energy (150) to develop Pride (175) and Courage (200). Similarly, one who has experienced unconditional love with find anything else unacceptable. He compares the process of the patterns to the work of 12-step group members to eliminate negative attitudes and cultivate positive ones.

Hawkins argues that contemplating the map can have practical applications in many fields, from sports and medicine to psychiatry. It can also transform one’s understanding of causality: Hawkins asserts, “what the world calls the domain of causes is in fact the domain of effects” (76) because it is how one reacts to an event that determines its effect on a life. He believes that nothing has the power to create stress.

The map also shows the progress of history. As an example, the end of British colonialism in India progressed from self-interest and exploitation to the selfless motivation of Gandhi, whose position was one of greater power because power always defeats force. Throughout history, social manifestations of force, including laws, war, and prohibitions, have always failed to solve conflicts. The underlying causes must instead be healed.

Finally, contemplating the map can lead to joy. The key to joy is unconditional compassion for all of life, including one’s own.

Hawkins reiterates the logarithmic escalation of the map’s scale. Each point represents 10 times the power of the point below it. He proceeds through each energy level, starting with Shame, which is similar to death and is linked to negative experiences in early life. People in this state are often dangerous or psychotic. Guilt, energy level 30, manifests in rage and killing. Apathy, at level 50, is characterized by poverty and despair. Grief, level 75, represents sadness, loss, and despondency.

Fear, at level 100, introduces more energy, since fear of danger is actually healthy. However, fear can also be a tool of control, especially for governments, and it can become obsessive. Energy level 125 is desire, which can be motivational but can also lead to substance dependency. People stuck in this level are never satisfied. Anger, at level 150, can lead to either destructive action, such as war, or constructive action, such as revolt against oppression. At level 175, pride has considerable energy and begins to create positive feelings. However, it is still below the critical level of 200 since it depends on external conditions. It can lead to factionalism, arrogance, and denial of the truth. It blocks the acquisition of true power.

At level 200, Courage, power “really first appears” (85). It is the zone of exploration, accomplishment, and determination. Those with courage can cope with, and handle, life’s opportunities and obstacles. Lower levels drain energy, but courage and levels above it are self-reinforcing and create energy. Hawkins asserts that the collective level of consciousness of mankind was at 190 for centuries and only “jumped” to its current level of 204 within the last decade of writing of the book.

Level 250 is Neutral because it allows for flexibility and realistic approaches to problems. People at this level have inner-confidence and a sense of well-being. Level 310, Willingness, is a gateway to higher levels. Success is common and growth is rapid. People at this level are excellent students and a positive source of power for society.

Level 350 is represented by Acceptance. It brings the understanding that one is the source and creator of one’s own life. While below level 200, people tend to see themselves as victims, Acceptance represents a taking back of one’s own power. Happiness and love are created from within. Individuals perceive with clarity and honor others. The next level, 400, is represented by Reason. People at this level can handle complex decisions using knowledge and education. It is the level of “Nobel Prize winners, great statesmen, and Supreme Court justices” (91). However, the Reason level is not without fault, as people can become caught up with theories and intellectualism.

At Level 500, one attains Love. It is unconditional and unchanging, because it comes from within. It has the ability to lift others and accomplish great things because its motives are pure. Where Reason deals with particulars, Love deals with wholes. It can dissolve negativity by “recontextualizing” rather than attacking it.

As Love becomes more unconditional, it evolves into the energy field of Joy at level 540. It is the level of healing and is the domain of saints and spiritual healers and seekers. Patience, persistence, and compassion are characteristics. At this level people can see the beauty of creation as an expression of love and Divinity. People want to use their evolved consciousness to help life itself.

Between 540 and 600 people can experience the energy level characteristic of near-death experiences. Level 600 is associated with Peace, also expressed as transcendence, self-realization, and “God-consciousness.” People experiencing this level of energy can become saints.

Energy levels 700-1,000 represent Enlightenment. People at this level are associated with Divinity. They have transcended the ego and reached the peak of the evolution of human consciousness. The highest level, 1,000, has been attained by Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ.

Hawkins says that 85% of the human race calibrates below level 200, while the average level of human consciousness is 204. These are people living at a bare subsistence level in fear and apathy. Skills are rudimentary and center around fuel, food, and shelter.

Human satisfaction can’t begin until level 250. Simple housing and food are available, clothing is adequate, and elementary education begins. The high 200s are represented by tradespeople and industry. Level 300 is achieved by skilled craftspeople and managers and is associated with completion of a secondary education. People in the mid-300s are upper managers, artisans, and educators with social mobility.

The 400s represent the awakening of intellect, populated by professionals, executives, government leaders, and scientists with an interest in travel and theater. Supreme Court justices, lawyers, presidents, and inventors are at this level. Hawkins points out that Einstein and Freud calibrated at 499, although he does not explain how he could know this for certain about past historical figures he was never able to test.

Level 500 represents a leap as Love begins to color all activities and creativity comes into full expression. Creators of great music, art, and architecture are within this level. At the mid-500s people have profound spiritual experiences; the upper 500s includes inspirational leaders who can bring about important changes. Few make the leap to level 600, when a person’s life, driven by compassion, may become legendary.

The power of the few individuals near the top of the scale—the 8% in the 400s, the 4% at 500+, and the 1 in “many millions” at 600+—balance out the rest. Conversely, a few very negative individuals, just 2.6 of the population, account for 72% of society’s problems. People can move from one level to another, but typically the energy field calibrated for someone at birth only increases by about five points. This is because most people spend their lives expressing variations of their native energy field, rather than trying to move beyond it. Still, the opportunity for change exists.

Hawkins argues that his topic is not theoretical, but research-based, and the unique nature of the research method allows him to apply it to new areas of knowledge. One is drugs and alcohol dependency. By themselves they only calibrate at 100 (like vegetables), but the “high” they can induce can suppress lower energy fields and calibrate from 350 to 600. Having experienced these higher states, people crave them again. Love, religion, classical music and art, and spiritual practice can also lead to the attainment of higher states.

The state is not “out there” but comes from within. Most people identify with their lower ego states and so don’t recognize this. Attaining a high state by artificial means creates a negative imbalance that results in negative consequences, such as substance dependency.

Modern society idealizes the pleasureless, such as self-sacrifice and hard work, and condemns simple pleasures that may even be illegal. Ruling classes historically achieved status and wealth by controlling society through puritanical ethics. Power is built upon the “forfeited pleasure of workers” (106) to produce pleasure for the ruling class. This coupling of pleasure and suffering is mirrored in substance misuse disorder.

The approach to substance dependency currently calibrates at only 150 but must reach 350 to be effective. Hawkins suggests product development based on kinesiologic testing as a solution. He also presents kinesiologic diagnosis for allergies and dosing of medicine.

Hawkins claims that the use of kinesiology to ascertain truth calibrates at 600, reliable beyond the realm of ordinary consciousness. The level of truth in the book as a whole is about 850. However, statements can be corrupted or distorted by the limitations of the listener, especially within religion.

Few can agree on the nature of truth since truth exists within one’s personal context. The evolution of consciousness, which is its own attractor field, will nonetheless continue because everything is part of a whole. Humans are noble because they continue to struggle with the meaning of life.

Hawkins asserts that the kinesiologic method can test the level of truth in any statement or belief system. The key is to word the form of questioning with precision and to always first ask permission to pose the question. With these tools one can ascertain everything from whether or not an investment is sound to who is fit to govern.

The fields of history, health research, criminal justice and police work, statistics, politics and government, commerce, and science could all benefit from the method. So can medical and psychological diagnoses, education, and spirituality. It can detect false prophets and psychics.

Appropriate use of the system will always point to self-growth and deepened compassion. It leads to the conclusion that everyone is “somewhere on the path of evolution” (123). Pain has a place on the path, as it forces people to choose a new direction.

Since everyone taps into the collective level of consciousness of mankind, when people improve themselves, they benefit everyone else. Self-kindness is beneficial, and an act of kindness to another may be repaid in an unlikely way. Hawkins compares humanity to Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, saying everyone is both Scrooge and Tiny Tim, and pulled between the past and the future.

Hawkins raises the question of the source of power. The Declaration of Independence calibrates at 700 because it says the equality of humans derives from the divinity of their creation, the same concept that was the source of Gandhi’s power. Power involves meaning, motive, and principle. Force must be justified, but power, which supports the significance of life, requires no justification.

Force constantly consumes, while power energizes and gives. Force aims to polarize through conflict, producing a win/lose dichotomy. The source of power cannot be proven but is beyond argument: Health is more important than disease, life more important than death, and so on. It emanates from consciousness itself and is endlessly motivating. Force can bring satisfaction, but only power can bring joy.

Several concepts contribute to an understanding of power. One is physicist David Bohm’s theory that there is “both a visible and an invisible universe” (131). Another is Rupert Sheldrake’s concept of morphogenetic fields, or M-fields—invisible organizational patterns that give specific forms to different species. A similar process exists in the energy fields of consciousness, a process that Hawkins calls “formative causation.” It is seen every time humans make a new breakthrough. For instance, the capacity to fly is an M-field created by the Wright Brothers. Once created, an M-field can be repeated and its power is reinforced.

Chaos theory also helps to explain power. It is an organizing pattern not readily evident in what looks like random data. Often the pattern looks like a figure eight folded back on itself. It shows the coherence of the universe. Hawkins gives the example of a sequence in which A causes B and B causes C. The idea of ABC is actually a pattern that results in this sequence.

An “ABC” can be either a high-energy or a low-energy attractor. Power makes one strong and force makes one weak. Powerful individuals through history have stated that their power came from something greater. Their teaching is always the same: “Give up weak attractors for strong attractors” (135).