CstineSublime

And by "we" I mean "I". I'm the one struggling. Agency with a 'y', basically means “The condition of being in action; operation.” Or the means or mode of acting, the context I hear it used most often is sociologically: > "Agency is the capacity of individuals to have the power and resources to fulfill their potential." One's agency is one's independent capability or ability to act on one's will. This ability is affected by the cognitive belief structure which one has formed through one's experiences, and the perceptions held by the society and the individual, of the structures and circumstances of the environment one is in and the position one is born into." People who are discriminated against for job opportunities have limited agency owing to the prejudices or negative perceptions people have which may be at odds with their ability: this robs them of the power to fulfill their potential. People who internalize prejudicial ideas of others about them or negative self-image may be unnecessarily impeding their own agency. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his motivational speeches speaks about how he didn't allow these prejudicial ideas about his long name and non-native English Accent, or even his Olympic physique (which was a world away from the 'stars' of the day like Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman) to impede on his career: this I think serves as a quick example of the impact of internalizing or not internalizing social beliefs on agency. He claims he did not allow these prejudices to rob him of his potential. HERE’S WHERE I GET CONFUSED: "AGENCY", "ROBUST AGENCY", "INTENTIONALITY", "AGENTIC", "AGENTICNESS"…. Agency sometimes “Robust Agency” is mentioned a lot on here. But not only that "Agentic", with a "c", indicates something very different: > "the more you can predict its actions from its goals since its actions will be whatever will maximize the chances of achieving its goals. This stems, at least some what from Daniel Dennet's Intentionality Systems Theory