Ren
Seeker at heart
- MBTI
- INFJ
- Enneagram
- 146
@Reason With Logic Filling
@Ren
I want to explore two sub-ideas here under the umbrella of World Domination.
How powerful can a person become? Provide examples of the most and least powerful people who've ever lived to support your points.
How large can a state (polity) become before it collapses like the Roman Empire? Provide examples of successful or unsuccessful states, forms-of government, or economic systems to support your points.
Take your time.
Regarding how powerful a person can become: I know it's not the direction you want me to pursue but I'm really much more interested in how much power a person can have over themselves. In any case that could also be seen as a prerequisite of long-lasting power in the socio-political realm. So in regard to my own conception, I have to say that I have a great dose of admiration for Nietzsche and Marcus Aurelius. Nietzsche wrote most of his masterpieces with a constant migraine. Marcus Aurelius wrote his while suffering from stomach cancer, I believe.
Could you imagine achieving such a thing? Writing a stream of masterpieces while suffering from constant migraines? That's my idea of power.
Now, with regard to the more traditional understanding of power which you've espoused, I would recommend biographies of Stalin. The most impressive incarnation of that kind of power I've encountered.