I love history because you can always find familiar patterns.
History tells us a simple truth: power is always built upon the inequality of knowledge.
Medieval aristocrats monopolized the ability to learn. Industrial capitalists monopolized production knowledge. Modern corporate managers monopolize information flow. They’re all playing the same game - controlling others through knowledge control. In these scenarios, money represents the result of knowledge gaps, not the cause.
However, the internet changed everything, with various kinds of knowledge spreading rapidly online. The AI era makes it even more dramatic, with professional-level knowledge readily available in a chat window. Traditional management hierarchies seem absurd in modern times: if management merely means arranging work based on shallow knowledge, a $20/month AI management panel could outperform most “managers.”
I believe management is a level, a state achieved through the sublimation of knowledge and capability.
Good managers are like your superset, your role model, using their presence to show you future possibilities and their abilities to guide you forward. They know what you’re doing, whether your actions are good or bad, when to help you up, and when to let you learn from setbacks. They understand the short-term and long-term benefits of different options and make decisions after weighing all intelligence and assumptions. Again, management isn’t a skill, but a level. Knowledge, understanding, action - this cycle is the foundation for ascending to higher levels.
Those managers lacking real capability are essentially information manipulators. They maintain their position by blocking knowledge flow, substituting titles for competence, and masking insecurity with power. Outside organizational protection, they cannot create real value in the world.
At this turning point in life, I hope to demonstrate a new possibility through my actions.