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Power and the dynamics of behavior

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Abstract

Starting with, but considerably going beyond a utility calculus, this article explores the dynamics of human behavior, taken to include overt action as well as thought and perception. On the basis of elementary thermodymnamic considerations, it is argued that all such behavior must be geared to the production ofpower, that is, mainly, ofresources, andinformation. The success or efficiency of behavior itself then appears to be a function both of the resources invested in it, and of the system's initial power, the product of itsprevious behavior and of autonomous environmental occurrences.

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De Vree, J.K. Power and the dynamics of behavior. Qual Quant 27, 171–193 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102731

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