The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics.
Interpretation
Power is as essential to social science as energy is to physics.
In this quote, Bertrand Russell suggests that understanding power is crucial for analyzing human behavior and social structures, similar to how energy is vital for comprehending the physical world. Just as energy drives the forces in physics, power influences relationships, social dynamics, and governance in society, making it a foundational concept for social sciences.
In practice
In a discussion about political science, one might quote this to highlight the significance of power dynamics.
St. Paul introduced an entirely novel view of marriage, that it existed primarily to prevent the sin of fornication. It is just as if one were to maintain that the sole reason for baking bread is to prevent people from stealing cake.
Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.
Of these austerer virtues the love of truth is the chief, and in mathematics, more than elsewhere, the love of truth may find encouragement for waning faith. Every great study is not only an end in itself, but also a means of creating and sustaining a lofty habit of mind; and this purpose should be kept always in view throughout the teaching and learning of mathematics.
At all times, except when a monarch could enforce his will, war has been facilitated by the fact that vigorous males, confident of victory, enjoyed it, while their females admired them for their prowess.
Moreover, the attitude that one ought to believe such and such a proposition, independently of the question whether there is evidence in its favor, is an attitude which produces hostility to evidence and causes us to close our minds to every fact that does not suit our prejudices.
Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.
Sometimes in order to help He makes us cry_x000D_ _x000D_ Happy the eye that sheds tears for His sake_x000D_ _x000D_ Fortunate the heart that burns for His sake_x000D_ _x000D_ Laughter always follow tears_x000D_ _x000D_ Blessed are those who understand_x000D_ _x000D_ Life blossoms wherever water flows_x000D_ _x000D_ Where tears are shed divine mercy is shown
Last I checked, Bill Gates was worth $50 billion. If the average employed adult, who is walking in a hurry, will pick up a quarter from the sidewalk, but not a dime, then the corresponding amount of money given their relative wealth that Bill Gates would ignore if he saw it lying on the street is $25,000.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one, that is (There are a few thousand to choose from. But I was born in a country where the dominant religion was Christianity so I believed in that one. Isn't it weird how that always happens?). Luckily I was also interested in science and nature. And reason and logic. And honesty and truth. And equality and fairness. By the age of eight I was an atheist.
We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go. We become something new by ceasing to be something old. This seems to be close to the heart of that mystery. I know no more now than I ever did about the far side of death as the last letting-go of all, but now I know that I do not need to know, and that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing. God knows. That is all that matters.
The Noble Eight-Fold Path is the path of living in awareness. Mindfulness is the foundation. By practicing mindfulness, you can develop concentration, which enables you to attain understanding. Thanks to right concentration, you realize right awareness, thoughts, speech, action, livelihood and effort. The understanding which develops can liberate you from every shackle of suffering and give birth to true peace and joy.
What a country needs to do is be fair to all its citizens - whether people are of a different ethnicity or gender.
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