Josh Karthikeyan Week 10 - Society's Power

Power, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the “ability to act.” On the most fundamental level, energy enables us to move and function on a daily basis. In modern society, energy is channeled through machines. These machines allow us to live comfortably today. 


Technological innovations stem from a better understanding and utilization of energy. For instance, the industrial revolution occurred because we were able to harness the power of steam. As time passed, we moved to coal because it contains more usable energy than steam. With this energy, we were able to create factories to mass produce things, fuel trains and ships, and turn rural places into large cities. 


To continue to progress, we moved to fossil fuels and in particular focused on a large amount of coal, oil and natural gas. Since fossil fuels were extremely energy dense, we could build even larger things. The change in energy powered our new innovations of cars, aircraft, leading us to a globalized economy.  


Currently, we are transitioning to renewable energy sources because of how damaging fossil fuels are to our environment. We are testing solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear energy to determine which type of energy can power our society at scale. 


Energy determines our limits for creating new things. Each major shift in energy is a major leap in society’s ability to build more useful things. As we continue to try to make energy more abundant and efficient, we are able to create more and more complex systems, overall becoming a more advanced civilization. Our society is powered by energy, and every major advancement in society is an advance in how we access power. 




Image by Nurul Rakhimbekov



Comments

  1. Casmin BuiFebruary 4, 2026 at 12:28 AM

    Hi Josh! I really like how you incorporated power into your blog about energy sources. Energy is so incredibly important to societies, and it’s amazing how many forms it can take: chemical, electrical, mechanical, and many more. I’d argue that one of the most useful forms of energy in human society is electrical energy. As Gen Z in the technological age, we quite literally cannot live without electricity. It powers lights, computers, machines, and even cars, all things we use in our everyday lives. More importantly, most of us use electricity for our own personal hobbies, whether that would be scrolling reels or playing games. It has gotten to a point where our electronic devices have become addictions. I find myself to be a subject as well because sometimes I can’t seem to start my school work until I have a few minutes dedicated to scrolling.

    Adding on to what you said about the potential of power to grow societies, I also agree, but I would narrow it down to electricity powering society. As scary it is seeing AI develop at lightning speed (haha!) in just a few years, this software shows just how fast electricity contributes to evolving technology to a level that we cannot keep up with. I still remember the days when AI had just started learning how to create images, and needless to say, they were very unrealistic. But now sometimes I can’t tell whether something is AI or real. It’s so thrilling but also scary to see how much AI will develop in these upcoming years as it continues to evolve.

    I would say out of all items that are powerful, energy has to be at the top because almost everyone depends on it every single day to function. I’m sure if we had a global blackout, everything would go to chaos in just a few minutes.

    Wonderful blog, Josh!

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  2. Jaycee SnelsonFebruary 4, 2026 at 7:38 PM

    Hey Josh! I love how you decided to write your blogs on the physical power that runs machines instead of the metaphorical power that I think many of us tend to write about. It is such a unique perspective of the theme and is really refreshing to see. I loved how you structured your blog to show the natural progression of energy and how we have used many different types throughout the years, like steam, fossil fuels, and now renewable energy sources, and how the change in energy sources has led to greater/more efficient inventions.

    In your blog you mentioned that we are testing many different forms of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and hydro, to see which one can best power society at a large scale and I am curious to know which form of renewable energy do you think is the best so far?

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  3. Annie ZhuFebruary 4, 2026 at 9:58 PM

    We learn about energy every year in science class, but the idea of an intangible presence which has such a significant effect on nature will forever bamboozle me. Not to mention the many different types of it! I enjoyed reading Casmin’s comment about electricity, and I would like to add on by declaring my admiration for nuclear power. The idea that such immense energy can be stored in the nucleus of one atom is both wild and fascinating. What is your favorite type of energy? Based on the image in your blog, I assume it is one the renewable ones.
    I would additionally point out that Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of the “ability to act” relates to global energy in more ways than one. Government reforms to reduce the effects of global warming, for instance, show that humanity can act to ensure that future generations prosper down the line. Yay for the greater good! That being said, though, do you think that the current progression of renewable energy will be enough to save our planet? The United Nations Environment Programme says that if we do not make a major change to our energy consumption immediately, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to jump 50% by 2050. It’s alarming to think how that dystopian future is only 24 years away from us…

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