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Copyright © 2006-2007 Tony Giovia
18. The Constant Quantity of Power
18.1 - Power = work divided by time P=W÷T.
18.2 – Power defines the capacity to do work.
18.3 - Work is a measure of energy transfer.
a) Energy is a dimension of work.
18.4 - By P=W÷T, work is a dimension of power, and therefore energy, as a dimension of work, is a dimension of power.
18.5 - Power is the capacity for and measure of energy transfer.
18.6 – All contexts are composed of energy, and therefore all contexts include the dimension of power.
18.7 The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy = the total amount of energy (including potential energy) in an isolated system remains constant.
18.8 The Law of Conservation of Contextual Energy = the total amount of energy in an isolated (unique) contextual system remains constant. (Definition)
18.9 - Rules determine the inclusion or exclusion of particular dimensions in the perceivable pool of dimensions.
18.10 - Dimensions are composed of energy.
18.11 - By controlling the inclusion or exclusion of particular dimensions in a context, rules control the power in a context.
18.12 - A Point of View is the Dominant Rule of a context.
18.13 - A complex contexts contains a Dominant Rule and one or more Recessive Rules.
18.14 - The Dominant and Recessive Rules of a complex context control the energy within the complex context.
18.15 - The Point of View and Recessive Rules of a complex context control the energy within the complex context.
We have been talking about power, defining it in its most practical sense: power is a measurement of energy, where energy is the substance that produces or prevents motion, or has a tendency to do so. Physicists draw distinctions among different types of energy, but all distinctions describe power in terms of energy transfer.
The standard definition of power used in mathematics is P=W÷T: power is work divided by time. Work and time are therefore dimensions of power, and because work is a measure of energy transfer, energy is also a dimension of power.
Power in a contextual sense is not specifically quantified – Context A does not equal 50 watts, or 10 joules, for example. Instead, power is derived from the relative strengths of the contexts and rules under scrutiny. A Zeitgeist can be safely assumed to have greater power than a casual observation about the weather, but the difference in power cannot yet be quantified in existing terminologies.
Plainly put, there is no mechanism for measuring the work performed by contexts as they influence other contexts. The fact that one context influences another is itself an acknowledgement of measurement, but what that measurement means is so far undefined.
The alignment of contextual and physical laws is absolute - the laws and rules that a physicist and mathematician apply to energy are the same laws and rules that must apply to power as power relates to contexts. Laws can be and sometimes are contextually dependent – the laws of quantum physics versus the laws of Newton come to mind, as do the non-Euclidean geometries. However, it is notable that the logical underpinnings that create these new mathematics and geometries remain the same. It is not the fundamentals of logic that are changing – instead, those same fundamentals are merely applied to a different set of contexts. It is possible that some laws governing contextual interactions will be specific for those interactions alone – but this is speculation.
The alignment of contextual and physical laws has interesting implications, one of which applies to The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. Here is the definition from Wikipedia: “Conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy (including potential energy) in an isolated system remains constant. In other words, energy can be converted from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed…. In modern physics, all forms of energy exhibit mass and all mass is a form of energy.”
The “isolated system” in the above definition refers only to a conventional physical system. With the definition of physical systems expanded to include contexts as physical entities, we can re-state The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy to include contextual systems.
The Law of Conservation of Contextual Energy states that the total amount of energy in an isolated contextual system remains constant. Energy can be transferred to one context or another within the system in the form of a change in Point Of View, but energy cannot be lost within that system.
Energy exists in a mathematical relationship with power, and power is a measurement of the work done by a quantity of energy. Therefore The Conservation of Contextual Energy is a window into the mechanics of contexts influencing contexts, where the more powerful direct the less powerful.
One interesting corollary of this Law is that contexts are competing for a fixed amount of power. This means that dominant Points of View are controlling recessive Points of View, and the recessives must take power away from the dominants to increase their own power. It is a zero sum game of power.
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