The Physics and Metaphysics of Social Powers: Bridging Cognitive Processing and Social Dynamics, a New Perspective on Power through Active Inference

The concept of power can be explored at several scales: from physical action and process effectuation, all the way to complex social dynamics. A spectrum-wide analysis of power requires attention to the fundamental principles that constrain these processes. In the social realm, the acquisition and maintenance of power is intertwined with both social interactions and cognitive processing capacity: socially-facilitated empowerment grants agents more information-processing capacities and opportunities, either by relying on others to bring about desired policies or ultimately outcomes, and/or by enjoying more information-processing possibilities as a result of relying on others for the reproduction of (material) tasks. The effects of social empowerment thus imply an increased ability to harness computation toward desired ends, thereby augmenting the evolution of a specific state space. Empowered individuals attract the attention of others, who contribute to increasing the scale of their access to various policies effectuating these state spaces. The presented argument posits that social power, in the context of active inference, is a function of several variables. As a result of its power-amplifying effects, this extended computational ability also buffers against possible vulnerabilities. We propose that individuals wield power not only by associating with others possessing desirable policies, but also by enhancing their ability to intake and compute information effectively. This dual mechanism is argued to create a cyclical, reinforcing pattern wherein the empowered are able to incrementally expand the scope of policies and state spaces available to them while minimizing risk-exposure.