4 ms·

You have to believe either you or society is going to be better off if you followed the order than you didn't, for you to follow it. A person who can force that

by meric 11y ago

You have to believe either you or society is going to be better off if you followed the order than you didn't, for you to follow it. A person who can force that situation on you so you would follow their orders have authority. A random person off the street can't order you around.

awinter-py 11y ago
Depends on the situation; in the presence of danger, I trust the person with the most information (and use various heuristics to assess who that is). The analysis you're suggesting is right (am I better off following), but in general that's just 'what is optimal to do' -- and that takes time to know. The implicit bargain in all power transactions is Sam Jackson's 'come with me if you want to live'. (where 'live' can be 'get rich', 'not go to jail', 'eat'). And there's never enough information or time to make a smart decision. Smart despots hoard information as much as guns, but even fair leaders have to choose what to say because of limited attention and TMI risks.