Power and The Body; Making The Cliche "Information is Power" Make Sense

This Saturday (19/03/2022), our team reflected on our TB Prevention work in the wider milieu of other planned prevention activities we engage in.

We work with information on a minute-by-minute basis. Information is the fuel that drives action. It is a constant stimuli.

But it is still hard to conceptualize as power.

In our Saturday reflection essay, we attempted to break down the elements and the connections so that the cliche is meaningful.

Power and the body; how information is power

It is said, 'information is power.'

But how?

The elements of power include: ideas, action, beliefs, belief systems, intuition, affordability, accessibility, admittance, utility, utilitarianship, provisions and the like.

The elements of the body include, physicality, emotionality, personality, experience, agency, autonomy, productivity, self determination and the like.

There are overlaps and this contributes to experiences.

The clincher is about leading better lives. Or making better decisions. It means lesser vulnerabilities, risks, adversities and dangers to one's life. It means security and safety.

There are aspirations we look forward to: ability to move freely, associate, pursue dreams, enjoy happily and make one's own decision.

These depend on the state of the body at any particular time and location. By time we may mean hour, date, day, clime and dime too. By location we may mean geography, culture, faculty, state of the mind and abilities. These are cues that the the body depends on to engage in agency, to operationalize autonomy, leverage self-determination and foster production.

The cues are necessary for one to realize the aspirations.

Information provides clues to how cues can be applied to realize aspirations.

So, when one says 'information is power' one sense of it is that information connects one to cues which enable one to lead or experience a better life.

#EndTB #InvestInCommunitiesToEndTB