What exactly is potentium?

we'll considering how his arguements to Anakin in Episode III seems to be almost word for word the bilge Darth Drumstick was spewing id have to agree.

 

I geuss I techniqualy am a potenium follower...even though I dislike moral relatism and most pontenium followers.

I always beleive you are wholly responsible for your actions.

 

I also thought Palps being potentiumish in the beginning but falling because he wanted to actively change the galaxy instead of waiting for the will of the force to do it through him. partially it lead him nevertheless, you can´t escape it. I always thought he was the good politician and wanted to bring justice and peace but this plagueis used against him, to tempt him with potentiumish thoughts. later palpatine then actively wanted to change it, even through force. that was his undoing (before TPM already).

 

Ceiran: My main issue with the Potentium heresy is that while it has certain similarities to the correct view a Jedi should take, it denies the existence of an external Dark Side. Which, as we know, is canonically wrong.

It's mainly that particular element that makes it dangerous to those who believe it and why I don't want to see the Jedi follow that path.

I'd have to agree with Charlemagne, however, that your version of the potentium is different than the one presented in the books.

 

thx. and I know your sorrows. but the internal dark side makes more sense than an external one. also did lucas never say the dark side is internal or external. he just said dark side. but I assume he meant the internal one. not an external like WEG sources seemed to imply.

but to solve this matter, might we work out something combining the two related views?

like my version of the potentium and simply applying what was applied to the external dark side, to the internal one? can that work? it is tempting, it is seducing etc. that far it would work. anything canon against that? when jedi talk about the dark side, it always seemed to me to be their inner one, that they all shared, but that is individual for everybody according to his inner state, fears, sorrows and temptations.

 

Just a quick question, but doesn't this limit the jedi as the vong were limited by their own rulers, making any and everyone who comes up with a new idea a Heretic? Just curious.


I like the idea of the potentium, but also like the idea of the light and dark side view of the jedi - I believe that the choice should be on the user, but that there should be a designated view of where most limits lie. In effect, force lightning and force choke are both considered dark side powers, but if you must use them and you use them for good, then their dark side hold on you won't be extreme. For instance, someone mentioned that force choke is the same as force grip on a rock. This is correct except for two distinctions - 1) the rock is not alive, having that life drained out of them by the power, and 2) the person using the choke on another person is usually relishing in the pain being caused to that person, not just using the power. Now, in my view, if the person uses force choke, but does it because the person is a threat, AND does it with intent only to cause them to pass out, AND feels bad about having to use something that powerful, then it wasn't used as normal and is therefore not of the darkside. In other words, the potentium, nor the "dogmatic view of the jedi", should exist alone, but in partnership with each other.


The more and more I read Dark Nest (just finished with Joiner King), the more I realize that Palpatine COULD have been a potentium follower. Without knowing his specific thoughts and reasons for beginning his path into darkness, it is unclear, because he could have been an evil man, bent on controlling the universe. Inversely, he could also have been a man wanting to learn how he could help, and the sith teachings that he learned twisted him.

A question that arises now is how the Sith fit within the teachings of the potentium. Are sith teachings and powers considered part of the unifying force, or are they the part that exists without it (yes, I know that EVERYTHING exists within the force, just hear me out). Things like Sith Alchemy and Sith Mutation obviously don't have a right or wrong side, and exist on the worse side of everything (if you mutilate an animal, causing it pain, and probably using it to inflict pain on others, can this ever be considered good?), and as such, don't exactly fit the idea of no dark or light. Also, sith teachings aren't just dark: They are past dark and downright evil...using power for power's sake, doing things "just because you can".

All in all, in a scale of white to black, I would consider light to be partly white with a lot of gray, dark to be mostly gray with some black, and sith to be totally black. Some light powers, I'm guessing, should not be used as well (saving someone from certain death when the force wills that it is time to go...of course this could be light, could be dark, you decide in your own mind - while the intent can be good, is the outcome?). I would state that the jedi should follow a scale like this, while acknowledging that everything exists, but only truly denouncing the extremes and living in the gray, judging for themselves what is right and wrong. If they hadn't been so dogmatic, Anakin could have stayed in the order and followed his own path to become an even greater follower of the force. Then again, had Mace told yoda to get his butt back from Kashyyyk, we wouldn't have had to worry about the nearly complete and utter annihilation of the jedi, but I digress...