It is always difficult coming up with ideas to answer questions about. It is not super easy to come up with categories for questions. There is a fine line between something being too broad and being too precise. It is difficult to thread that needle. There is usually a laundry list of topics that I need to rifle through. There have been almost 500 posts, it is difficult to keep coming up with new topics. I haven’t repeated too much.
Anyhoo… I asked ChatGPT for some assistance and Chat generated a different slate of topics and I selected Authority as a topic… Chat generated 50 questions about all the different aspects of the topic Authority and I pared it down to a solid 20.
On to the questions:
1. What is the difference between power and authority?
Power doesn’t require authority. Acceptance of power requires authority.
2. Can authority exist without legitimacy?
No. When the legitimacy erodes, the accepted authority ebbs… it is just an abuse of power. Authority is something that is given, and one would not give authority willingly to an illegitimate situation.
3. Does authority require recognition by others to function?
True authority requires legitimacy, so it requires recognition by others.
4. Does expertise automatically confer authority?
No. Well… kinda “no.” Expertise in a niche space only confers authority in that niche, but not even for things adjacent to their niche.
5. What happens when competing authorities collide?
Agreement, consensus, avoidance, or conflict
6. Is authority… “author-ity…” get it… Author-ity! Soooo… is authority simply the power to author reality?
Author-ity is an interesting way to wrap one’s mind around writing. It makes you wonder if unpopular authors are lacking the legitimacy to wield their power.
7. Can you reclaim authority by rewriting your own narrative?
I should think so. The legitimacy piece is valuing your own expertise in being who you are. If you believe in yourself, you are your own authority (about you).
8. Is history written by the victors—or by those with narrative authority?
At first it is written by the victors… then people with narrative authority tell the rest of the story.
9. Who has the authority to define what is “normal”?
No one individually, no single institution unilaterally, no lone culture singularly. It really has to be an amalgamation of a consensus of a majority… and it can change, without notice, because normal is not static.
10. Who has the authority to declare something “true”?
Some things are inherently true regardless. Things that can be empirically measured can often be considered “true.” However, most “truths” are in the eye of the beholder.
11. Why do people obey even when they disagree?
Because the legitimacy conferred on the authority allows for people to obey things that they do not agree with. Many things are legal due to the legitimacy of the authority of a government that are immoral and disagreeable.
12. Is your Critical Inner Voice a form of borrowed authority?
If one listens to the Critical Inner Voice, it could be considered borrowed authority.
13. Can someone feel powerless while holding authority?
Of course. Authority even with legitimacy is not omnipotent.
14. When does legal authority diverge from moral authority?
On every day that ends in “y.”
15. What happens when trust in authority collapses?
It leaves a power vacuum. Then bad thegs typically ensue.
16. Does transparency strengthen or weaken authority?
It strengthens it. When the authority is legitimate because the legitimacy is derived from expertise, being able to see the machinations due to transparency would be amazing.
17. Is emergency authority ever truly temporary?
Nope. Going all the way back to pro-consul powers given to Julius Caesar… I am sure it goes back further, but that one is ancient and written down.
18. Is “respect my authoritah” a demand for legitimacy or a confession of insecurity?
South Park Meme of “Respect my Authoritah!”
It’s a South Park meme more than anything else.
19. Is the Jedi Council’s failure in Star Wars a failure of authority or of wisdom?
Both.
20. Can authority be collaborative rather than vertical?
It is better when it is collaborative.
To recap:
Still looking for some new contracts
UX Contracts are not the easiest things to find
I need a rich friend who needs a UX person
I don’t think I run in the correct social circle for a rich friend
Commissions are still open
Illustrations, Drawings, Graphic Design, Cartography, UX
Hit me up
Send me an email (mmmmmpig@gmail) you can finish the rest, I don’t want scrapers spamming
Anyone want to answer 20 Questions with me?
Interviews are always open
Again send ne ab email to mmmmmpig@gmail
I’m 15 Questions in with someone right now
Hoping to get that one done soon
I am also just open for a chat, if you don’t want something so formal
Check me out on Substack
Read me on Medium
Hell, check out my IG
I need to draw more
I need to write more
Sometimes I feel like I should be more
Sometimes I feel great though
lHave a great week everyone