Do you paint yourselves in boxes because of your race, gender,, age, external expectations of others or do we choose what we really desire????? Freedom is a state of mind.....Freedom is sign of self-awareness and outgrowth of our willingness to make conscious choices of our own free will......
2007-06-26 05:07:08 · 9 answers · asked by Rita 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
yes and to be so ,you have to have independant thought,
which alot of people dont, and are all too willing to relenquish to others, thus the categories of self imposed bondage
2007-06-26 05:11:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, we aren't free. As much as we like to deny it to ourselves, our choices are already set in stone by our personalities. We may weigh our choices, giving the illusion of free choice, "Should I go to work today, or rob a bank?" Sure, you have the option to rob a bank, but if that's not who you are, you won't.
This trickles down to more mundane choices "Pepsi, or Coke" and following that logic every choice is already predetermined by your personality, experiences and values. All of the above are dictated by outside influences, regardless of which side of the Nature or Nurture argument you fall on.
Think about it this way, if you decide to pick up fast food and see a Burger King and a McDonalds, you'll think "hmm... where do I want to eat?" Then weigh the pros and cons, then pick McDonalds because the fries are better. Given what you wanted at the moment in time, you would have NEVER picked Burger King unless something new was added to the equation, Burger King was never an option.
You aren't free, every idea that is in your mind was planted there by an outside source. You're a Frankenstein of other people's ideas and influences, you aren't your own person, your choices are made with the world whispering into your ear. And you certainly aren't free.
2007-06-26 05:35:40 · answer #2 · answered by Vito1964 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No one who owns anything is totally free. No one who cares about another person, or who is responsible to or for another person is totally free. Freedom is a cold thin soup compared to the joy we discover when we accept our role in a family or community. Freedom may be a state of mind, but the ability to walk away from commitments and responsibilities is not freedom. As soon as you make a choice in life, you give up a little freedom. The trick is to make the kinds of choices that give you the greatest amount of joy (not just happiness) while giving up the least amount of freedom, or at least investing that loss of freedom for an equal amount of security and deep spiritual love.
2007-06-26 05:14:28 · answer #3 · answered by MUDD 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I am very free and thats good enough. I agree that its a state of mind more than anything else but it can never be absolute either as a thought or as a state of being.
Our thoughts no matter how 'independent' are influenced by others.
Even the political concept of 'freedom' was never meant to be absolute, your right to freedom is always limited by your acceptance of the fact that you have to allow others their freedom and since we live together in a finite world this necessarily limits our freedom.
2007-06-26 05:13:43 · answer #4 · answered by megalomaniac 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I don't share your opinion on freedom - I see it as an unattainable state. My every though and action are determined by either biological or interaction causes ( nature or nurture). My choices are limited by geography, culture, and location. My ability to choose is influenced by biological imprinting up to the point in time of the choice, meaning that my decisions are based on the sum of what I've learned. Even when I attempt to make a random decision, my ganglia is performing a timing function ( a biological perception of random timing) .
2007-06-26 05:30:24 · answer #5 · answered by ycats 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You may think your free
You may not paint yourself into corners with those things
But so many people are chained and controlled by the media that they are not really free.
Free is not just a state of mind, free is being seperate from all forms of control, both physical and metaphorical.
No one is free
2007-06-26 05:16:01 · answer #6 · answered by devinthedragon 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
no we are not free. free to think what we want. not free to do what we want. and it's not any of the reasons you mentioned, but simply society. you can try to 'escape' but not ever really all the way, unless you want to be a criminal (ie. by not paying your taxes) and that is still a designation given by the society you live in. we cannot escape that. and if you are being forced to 'escape' because you don't like things the way they are, is that really doing what you want? no. so, the best is to make things work within the boundaries that we have. man is never free. there are just different levels of indenture to our societies.
2007-06-26 05:16:26 · answer #7 · answered by KJC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, we are not totally free -- we are constrained by the world we live in. Freedom is not the same as liberty. Making choices is a difficult thing.
2007-06-26 05:15:02 · answer #8 · answered by Seosamh 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
THe term Race is a fallacy outside of Genus Genus and Species: Homo Sapiens
2007-06-26 11:50:13 · answer #9 · answered by Ke Xu Long 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋