Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

Examine some of the rhetorical and literary techniques Hawkins uses throughout the text. What are some of these techniques? Why and how are they used to try to establish credibility, persuade the reader, and/or invoke emotions? In what ways are such techniques effective or ineffective in advancing Hawkins’s arguments?

Analyze Hawkins’s arguments about how some “leaps” in consciousness, like that experienced by Bill W. (Chapters 18 and 21), are permanent, while others, like those experienced through entrainment (Chapter 22), are not. How does Hawkins characterize each? How does each concept illuminate some of the text’s key themes and ideas?

What role does humility play in Hawkins’s conceptions of consciousness? How does it illuminate some of his ideas about power versus force?