Influence Can Be Measured

What can easily be measured is influence – how people influence others in terms of number of people in a movement, society or cult, changes in processes on a small scale and national and international policies and mass scale behavioral changes on a bigger scale. The effect of the influence can be measured in time in particular if it is a large scale change. What cannot be measured are concepts such as "wisdom" - although we may be able to attribute and categorise influence as a positive (constructive) or negative (destructive) quality. However the complexity involved in the effect of influence requires both spacial (systems perspective) as well as temporal (time). For example in some cases influence may have a negative attribute such as a coup resulting in a civil war in the short term but prosperity for people two generations later from toppling a ruthless dictator.