I’ve been captured by a question that’s tied my mind in knots! Yesterday, I started reading Sebastian Junger’s book Freedom. In it, he asks a question that’s since perplexed me and gotten me to start discussions with several people:
How do you define Freedom? What does that word mean to you?
Freedom for me is the exact feeling you get from being in a place where no one knows you. Freedom to be authentic to your current self at every moment, and not pressure by anyone's expectations of who you are or how you should behave.
That's something I very much identify with! Whether you choose to be someone completely different, or your authentic self, it's always fun to be somewhere that no one knows you :) when I was traveling in Europe, moving from hostel to hostel every day, I made up several identities just for fun! You can be anyone when you are no one, on the road.
When I first saw your question, I immediately thought of Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a psychologist and Holocaust survivor. He wrote the book "Man's Search for Meaning" and this book is life changing. He said "Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude."
I love MSfM. Incredible book, and the concept of "logotherapy" is life-changing stuff. It's a very stoic idea too, that we make the choices that define our circumstances. I love how he was able to share what he'd experienced in such a powerful way, and inspired millions of people to try to make sure it never happens again! I love the idea of choosing your attitude and fighting in the face of suffering. That's certainly one definition of freedom! I'm intrigued, though, what does freedom look like outside our own heads?
When I think of "free" or "freedom" I think of three different things. A circumstance of being free to do whatever, free will or the capacity to make choices freely, and agency or the ability to make commitments. We say we live in a free country and for the most part we can do what ever we want, move where ever we want, and so forth. However there are people who, in spite of living here aren't free. We could say prisoners are free. Some would argue the poor aren't free. They might live in a free country and sure all of the freedoms are afforded to them, but without economic capacity the poor are only able to exercise their freedoms to the extend they can pay for them. Sure you have the right to own a gun, but if you can't afford one, you don't get one. Sure you have free speech and yes you can say what you want, but without a forum or means, and in some cases a lot of money to buy media, you won't be herd. You might be free to move anywhere you want, but if you don't have the money or job some where else, the poor are stuck in poor neighborhoods with little economic opportunity or security. Then there is agency. I see a sign that say "No swimming." Sure I can "choose" to swim or "choose" not to swim. If I choose to swim, I may find the warning was to keep me safe and I might die. At that point "choosing" to swim prevents me from ever being free to choose anything ever again. That's a little extreme, but choosing to commit to obeying a law like "Don't swim" actually makes you free. Then there are laws that oppress or take away your freedom. Hence why we have a bill of rights and a court system. It is a pretty deep subject to go into laws that oppress. But those are my thoughts on what freedom looks like.
Wow Sean, so many interesting points! I love the point you make about the choice of something that will stop you from ever making choices again.
It seems like to have what we would call "freedom" you need to have some level of human dignity, something the poor are denied (yet in the U.S., they consider themselves some of the freest people around, at least in the blue-collar world). Dignity comes at a price. For people stuck in abject poverty, dignity is a luxury they can't afford.
It's a tough conversation to go into laws that oppress, too! It seems that no law will ever help everyone, and the responsibility of a true democracy would be to make sure that the laws harm the least amount of people possible or, at least spread out the law-based misfortune in the most equal way possible.
I ran across this yesterday: “Freedom is the possibility of isolation. You are free if you can withdraw from people, not having to seek them out for the sake of money, company, love, glory or curiosity, none of which can thrive in silence and solitude. If you can't live alone, you were born a slave. You may have all the splendors of the mind and the soul, in which case you're a noble slave, or an intelligent servant, but you're not free. And you can't hold this up as your own tragedy, for your birth is a tragedy of Fate alone. Hapless you are, however, if life itself so oppresses you that you're forced to become a slave. Hapless you are if, having been born free, with the capacity to be isolated and self-sufficient, poverty should force you to live with others.”
I was walking my dogs and thinking about how freedom can mean so many different things to so many different people. In a supermarket we have freedom to choose from a huge variety of items, but our freedom is still defined by the owners of the store. In a democracy, we have freedom of speech....unless you want to say something that is defamatory or racist, sexist etc. We can do what we want to as long as it's within the constraints and accepted norms of the place and time in which we live. We can get vaccinated or not, but then may be affecting someone else's freedom. We can think what we want to, but our thoughts can be affected by the information we receive from external sources eg social media, which may be determined by an AI algorithm in a dark room somewhere.
Complete freedom is a nebulous concept and maybe absolute freedom would be anarchy?
That's what makes it such an interesting question! How can we experience freedom without, in some way, infringing on the freedom of others? In the supermarket, we have the freedom to choose from a large variety of items, but the items we choose may be infringing on the freedoms of people we'll never meet, far away from us.
Freedom of speech is interesting too! Where does a democratic society draw the line on what's ok to say? Is it appropriate to draw the line?
So many people have different definitions of freedom, depending on what they want out of life. In my experience, people who repeatedly and loudly say "I do what I want" are sad, sad people!
I suppose the only truly free society is one where people are not incentivized to do each other harm. I haven't found it yet, but I hope I do!
You made some excellent points, and the example of how your freedom to vaccinate affects others is a particularly timely one. For me, true freedom happens between your ears. It’s about having a clear conscious and peace within. We have all seen people who are doing whatever they want and it rather looks like freedom but inside they are tormented. In the Bible John 8:36 says “Who the Son sets free is free indeed.” For me, true freedom starts within.
Does it exist? Freedom is always limited by a word: respect. In certain countries freedom is mixed up with "rebellion". In my own world, I feel I am free because I can almost do all I want when working hard to have it.
Freedom for me is the exact feeling you get from being in a place where no one knows you. Freedom to be authentic to your current self at every moment, and not pressure by anyone's expectations of who you are or how you should behave.
That's something I very much identify with! Whether you choose to be someone completely different, or your authentic self, it's always fun to be somewhere that no one knows you :) when I was traveling in Europe, moving from hostel to hostel every day, I made up several identities just for fun! You can be anyone when you are no one, on the road.
When I first saw your question, I immediately thought of Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a psychologist and Holocaust survivor. He wrote the book "Man's Search for Meaning" and this book is life changing. He said "Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude."
I love MSfM. Incredible book, and the concept of "logotherapy" is life-changing stuff. It's a very stoic idea too, that we make the choices that define our circumstances. I love how he was able to share what he'd experienced in such a powerful way, and inspired millions of people to try to make sure it never happens again! I love the idea of choosing your attitude and fighting in the face of suffering. That's certainly one definition of freedom! I'm intrigued, though, what does freedom look like outside our own heads?
When I think of "free" or "freedom" I think of three different things. A circumstance of being free to do whatever, free will or the capacity to make choices freely, and agency or the ability to make commitments. We say we live in a free country and for the most part we can do what ever we want, move where ever we want, and so forth. However there are people who, in spite of living here aren't free. We could say prisoners are free. Some would argue the poor aren't free. They might live in a free country and sure all of the freedoms are afforded to them, but without economic capacity the poor are only able to exercise their freedoms to the extend they can pay for them. Sure you have the right to own a gun, but if you can't afford one, you don't get one. Sure you have free speech and yes you can say what you want, but without a forum or means, and in some cases a lot of money to buy media, you won't be herd. You might be free to move anywhere you want, but if you don't have the money or job some where else, the poor are stuck in poor neighborhoods with little economic opportunity or security. Then there is agency. I see a sign that say "No swimming." Sure I can "choose" to swim or "choose" not to swim. If I choose to swim, I may find the warning was to keep me safe and I might die. At that point "choosing" to swim prevents me from ever being free to choose anything ever again. That's a little extreme, but choosing to commit to obeying a law like "Don't swim" actually makes you free. Then there are laws that oppress or take away your freedom. Hence why we have a bill of rights and a court system. It is a pretty deep subject to go into laws that oppress. But those are my thoughts on what freedom looks like.
Wow Sean, so many interesting points! I love the point you make about the choice of something that will stop you from ever making choices again.
It seems like to have what we would call "freedom" you need to have some level of human dignity, something the poor are denied (yet in the U.S., they consider themselves some of the freest people around, at least in the blue-collar world). Dignity comes at a price. For people stuck in abject poverty, dignity is a luxury they can't afford.
It's a tough conversation to go into laws that oppress, too! It seems that no law will ever help everyone, and the responsibility of a true democracy would be to make sure that the laws harm the least amount of people possible or, at least spread out the law-based misfortune in the most equal way possible.
To be never be sad and always be able to pursue one's desires, goals, aims.
I would agree with the ability to pursue whatever we want, but how can we never be sad?
Acceptance. Be always grateful, no matter what. It's tough, I know:)
I ran across this yesterday: “Freedom is the possibility of isolation. You are free if you can withdraw from people, not having to seek them out for the sake of money, company, love, glory or curiosity, none of which can thrive in silence and solitude. If you can't live alone, you were born a slave. You may have all the splendors of the mind and the soul, in which case you're a noble slave, or an intelligent servant, but you're not free. And you can't hold this up as your own tragedy, for your birth is a tragedy of Fate alone. Hapless you are, however, if life itself so oppresses you that you're forced to become a slave. Hapless you are if, having been born free, with the capacity to be isolated and self-sufficient, poverty should force you to live with others.”
― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet
WOW what a quote Steven! Thank you for sharing this with us :)
I was walking my dogs and thinking about how freedom can mean so many different things to so many different people. In a supermarket we have freedom to choose from a huge variety of items, but our freedom is still defined by the owners of the store. In a democracy, we have freedom of speech....unless you want to say something that is defamatory or racist, sexist etc. We can do what we want to as long as it's within the constraints and accepted norms of the place and time in which we live. We can get vaccinated or not, but then may be affecting someone else's freedom. We can think what we want to, but our thoughts can be affected by the information we receive from external sources eg social media, which may be determined by an AI algorithm in a dark room somewhere.
Complete freedom is a nebulous concept and maybe absolute freedom would be anarchy?
That's what makes it such an interesting question! How can we experience freedom without, in some way, infringing on the freedom of others? In the supermarket, we have the freedom to choose from a large variety of items, but the items we choose may be infringing on the freedoms of people we'll never meet, far away from us.
Freedom of speech is interesting too! Where does a democratic society draw the line on what's ok to say? Is it appropriate to draw the line?
So many people have different definitions of freedom, depending on what they want out of life. In my experience, people who repeatedly and loudly say "I do what I want" are sad, sad people!
I suppose the only truly free society is one where people are not incentivized to do each other harm. I haven't found it yet, but I hope I do!
You made some excellent points, and the example of how your freedom to vaccinate affects others is a particularly timely one. For me, true freedom happens between your ears. It’s about having a clear conscious and peace within. We have all seen people who are doing whatever they want and it rather looks like freedom but inside they are tormented. In the Bible John 8:36 says “Who the Son sets free is free indeed.” For me, true freedom starts within.
Does it exist? Freedom is always limited by a word: respect. In certain countries freedom is mixed up with "rebellion". In my own world, I feel I am free because I can almost do all I want when working hard to have it.