Rating: 
Summary: This book overcomes my own scepticism
Review: It is easy to be sceptical about the claims in this book as they are extremely revolutionary and immense in their scope. If a person is strict about their definitions of scientific terminology and precise about their mathematical calculations, they can easily tear down the grand claims that Hawkins makes in this book. It might then be supposed that Hawkins is building castles in the sky.
Nevertheless, the claims that Hawkins makes in his book have a quality that I have never seen in my decades of reading. They ring TRUE in a way that cannot be described and which have a way of making the reader throw his stringent scientific cautions to the wind.
To his credit, Hawkins makes it clear that his mathematical scales and scientific discussions have a certain LIMITED CONTEXT that is not meant to be the foundation for his claims. THey are only meant as an aide in explaining the more subjective experience of spiritual truth which stands ABOVE science and math in its value to mankind.
After reading this book I felt like I had just read the words of someone who had been hiding in the back of my mind for many years. I began to feel the courage to move ahead with the positive challenges in my life. The proof is not in the scientific laboratory but in the laboratory of life. Although I have not made use of the muscle testing myself, this book and the subsequent books that follow it are all works that I have never encountered before in my life. They have changed me drastically and I am very grateful to Hawkins for writing them.
Rating: 
Summary: The best lies are half truths... Scary book :(
Review: Just read this book, here is what I did like:
1) The concept that power is superior to force: The author uses historical anecedotes and a handy page listing of power attributes in juxtaposition to force attributes, for example: Confidence vs. Arrogance etc... Considering my poor opinion of this book I found this chart valuable.
2) The concept that love and compassion raise one's level of conciousness: Disclaimer: Since I am a believer in Jesus as the Son of God I can definitely relate to this, as I have grown spiritually I become more aware and thus more conscious of others and how my love of my neighbor or lack thereof affects myself and them. Additionally, I find it difficult to relate to my former less conscious self prior to giving my life over to Christ. The author seems to accurately describe my spiritual growth up to this point even though he and I clearly have a differing world view.
3) The concept that creativity and genius seem to come from an external force: As someone who considers himself musically creative I found this to be true, when I write music it is as if I am tuning into the right radio frequency rather than generating it internally... But honestly, who knows? This book presents only one plausible explanation for creativity i.e. the collective unconscious, it does not by any means prove this point.
Now, what I didn't agree with...
1) Prior to purchasing this book I flipped through the pages and saw the many references to math and physics and became intrigued. As a previous reviewer stated the author, who is a psychiatrist references the hard sciences frequently and does so frequently incorrectly. To do so, so frequently, in a manner that so illogical in reference to his main points, and incorrectly much of the time is inexcusable for a man of his academic background. You would have thought that he would have had an academic peer to check his work many times before the time of publishing. This red flags this book for deception, considering the grandiose claims in this book (i.e. we all have access to absolute truth in the universe!) it would have taken relatively little effort on the authors part to have his
mathematics checked. Quite suspicious... The author is using today's science buzzwords in a hodge podge manner to try and lend credibility to his radical claims on truth.
3) Haha, just had to mention this last, somewhere in the business portion of this book the author mentions that walmart is successful and their employees are happy because walmart uses power instead of force! I have had to spend considerable time in walmart as a rep for a company and I must say that that is probably one of the most miserable places to work I have ever been in. I can't stand shopping there or being there, flourescent lights, unhappy workers, and chaos, chaos, chaos. Now I don't hate walmart, they do some very ethical things and some very unethical things but according to the definition that the author uses for force, walmart is most definitely successful because they use force frequently. It's no wonder that this book had a recomendation from Sam Walton.
Bottom line-- This author is exploiting the buyer, my analysis is that he knows his audience very well and he knows exactly what they want to hear. They do want to hear that the United States constitution has a truth value of 700/1000 and that all the worlds religions originally had ultimate truth, blah blah blah.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most important books.
Review: Reviewer Ruth Lyon was very skeptical of muscle testing, yet I have experienced its validity in many ways for over 25 years through its application by trained, qualified professionals who understand its correct use - mostly chiropractors. Her own skepticism makes her a poor judge of this method and therefore of Power Vs. Force. This book is one of the most important I have ever read, illuminating the effect of all things on human behavior. Music, color, environment, enterainment, literature and more all have an influence on the people who experience them. Hawkins has done us a great service in this work, and we would do well to listen to him. He points out that even excellence in some area of life doesn't mean it is of a beneficial effect, such as a skilled musican playing what some call "death rock" music. The effect is what matters. Of particular value is his clarification of the relative calibrations of emotions and attitudes of consciousness, much of which is little understood by most. With this map we can make choices and progress in our lives. It is a map to sanity and value that is much needed in this world. I know a someone who is well aquainted with the author, and he says he is indeed a brilliant man. Those who would be critical of him should look at their own qualifications to judge him or his methods. Power Vs. Force is a book not to be passed up. By the way, the first three chapters are extreemely dry clinical material and are hard for most to read with interest. Skim them if you need to, and get into the meat in chapter 4.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been great!
Review: This book COULD have been great. For a moment at least, let's take the major premise of kinesiology testing at the author's word. If true, this would be a MAJOR breakthrough in man's ability to discern truth from fiction in the world. The author himself mentioned that he's undertaken millions of kinesiological tests over the past number of years. So, you would expect to find out all kinds of interesting "eye-opening" facts in the book, wouldn't you? Don't hold your breath. The author divulges a sum total of 30-40 test results throughout the entire book (mostly how historical persons such as Jesus and Hitler calibrated). If he's so confident in his system, why not publish a book of the 1000's of interesting facts that could be ascertained using this method (e.g. "Did O.J. do it?"). It would be the most interesting book ever written (again assuming the testing system is what the author claims it is). Instead, the author goes through chapter after chapter of telling you how the method COULD be used by the reader (e.g. to choose politicians, make company decisions, etc.). One other MAJOR note...the mathematical assumptions in this book are absolutely atrocious, and frankly embarrassing for someone of Dr. Hawkins' reported credentials! For instance, the author claims that simply by reading this book, the average reader increased their calibration by 35 points. If you know the math behind the logarithmic scale the author uses, this means that the average reader increased his consciousness calibration by 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times!!! You mean to tell me that by reading one 300-page book, I've increased my consciousness trillions and trillions of times over? C'mon Dr. Hawkins! Another example is how Dr. Hawkins laments how the average human "only" gains 5 calibration points over a lifetime. Only? 5 points is 10 to the 5th power, or 100,000. Wow I only wish I could increase my consciousness by a magnitude of 100,000X in my lifetime! A mere surface review of the book from a mathematical angle shows these HUGE flaws in the "scale"...which makes me highly skeptical of how accurate the author's entire methodology is! With that said, I have conducted some very preliminary tests of the kinesiology method, with a good deal of success (O.J. did do it by the way, according to my testing, and Bach tested positive versus a negative for Slayer). I'll also give the author commendation on his general writings about what it takes for us all to improve ourselves. But I remain HIGHLY skeptical about the entire premise of the author's mathematics and the "scale" derived from that faulty math, and therefore give the book 3 stars out of 5.
Rating:
Summary: How to heal the planet
Review: This book is all about its subtitle, "The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior." Hawkins delves deep into the human psyche to unravel the mysteries of the forces which compel people to be who they are. Reminiscent of Carl Jung's archetypes in the collective unconscious, Hawkins' attractor fields resonate to different frequencies of consciousness.
He even went on to calibrate those frequencies on a scale of one to a thousand. Learn about the scale of human consciousness on planet Earth and what it means. Learn about how you can be of more service to your planet. Find out how an individual can leapfrog lifetimes-worth of experience in just one moment of true realization.
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