Saved by Stuart Evans
agency: it's only human
It is impossible for us to pursue the things we want or build respectful relationships if we lack agency, and so we must learn to approach other people, speak up when we are unhappy, and engage with reality actively.
Devon Price • Unmasking for Life: The Autistic Person's Guide to Connecting, Loving, and Living Authentically
Different academic disciplines have different takes on the word “agency”:
- Philosophy sees agency as the capacity to act intentionally and rationally to bring about change in the world.
- Psychology views agency as a person’s capacity to exert control over their environment and experience a sense of ownership over their actions.
- Sociology understands age
Peter Limberg • High Agency to Wise Agency
Roughly, agency is the capacity to act to satisfy some preference. This breaks down into three parts: 1. The capacity to act. 2. Possessing preferences over outcomes of those actions. 3. Being able to choose to use the former to satisfy the latter.
David R. MacIver • Learning to exercise agency
A common trait of high-agency people is that they take accountability for achieving a goal, not just doing some work.
Agency is the skill that built the world around you, an all-purpose life intensifier that lets you make your corner of it more like what you want it to be, whether that’s professional, relational, aesthetic, whatever. Build a better mousetrap. Have an enviable marriage. Start a country. No one is born with it, everyone can learn it, and it’s never ... See more