More thoughts on values and desires consistent with my purpose. I noticed that a lot of them were connected with themes, or concepts, which I would call principles. It’s interesting how what I had previously “felt” were my principles actually derive from my purpose and the subsequent values.

There is a principle of efficiency. Efficiency is central to entropy — our ability to control an ever increasing portion of the Universe is dependent on the efficiency with which we extract energy from it. As we trace the history of mankind we can see this efficiency increase in leaps: using fire to warm ourselves us, for instance, is a very inefficient way to use the energy stored in wood. Similarly, we’re currently able to harness the power of the Sun — directly through solar power or indirectly through wind power — but the processes we have in place are not scalable and wasteful.

Another principle is a principle of collaboration. As I started thinking how I could enable human progress, I realized that mankind’s thirst for knowledge, for answers to more and more fundamental questions is a prerequisite. This knowledge is best spread when people collaborate — scientists share the results of their work with others, thus allowing for a faster accumulation of knowledge.

There are other principles and values, however, that influence the result in a greater degree. Collaboration is essential, but without motivation we’re bound to switch our context to something else. Influence is a good way to motivate people. And influence is a natural outcome of power. Perhaps this is what I should be striving for, then?

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