If you feel free, are you free?

Question

A man is asked to either leave a room or stay in it. He feels that he is free to leave the room but decides to stay. What he does not know however, is that the door is locked and in which case..he was not free. So..if you feel free, are you free?

Answer 1

Freedom is a subversive concept in the mind, and there is nothing such as absolute freedom just the way there is nothing absolute in the objective reality of our physical world, even for the most abstract of our thoughts and ideas, we constantly resort to standards and norms of the realistic world that we physically inhabit. I could be free in many ways but in what particular sense I need to be, I need to define and understand to the best of my judgment and understanding.

The ideas of freedom we grasp, the way we have many other ideas including truth, justice and beauty, with solid reference to the physical we live our lives that we try naturally to improve and develop. For that purpose we need to interpret our ideals into realistic forms, but first of all we need to grasp the collectively recognisable sense of our ideas; we first of all sense and feel our ideas in our dreams and aspiration and then we work to make these dreams realities. Along the way, we check to see every now and then if we are happy, if we are along the right path, and if our senses are in accordance with the world at large that ultimately becomes standard for our achievements.

I could ask myself – am I free in this world, on this planet, where I cannot break free from the gravitational pull, where there is almost impossible for me to penetrate through the atmosphere, and even if do manage to do so somehow I won’t be able to traverse through the vacuum of space to go to explore other worlds in the cosmos at my free will. Then there is time that I cannot stop, make go slower, or run faster for that matter. I could count countless similar things that if I think about would rip me off my sense of ultimate freedom. Just as I cannot be absolutely good or bad, as I can only choose to do things that are good or bad, I cannot choose to be free but only in a state of freedom that I could define and then create within the save haven of my our mind.

If the man inside the little room has been made to feel free then he indeed is free within the limitations and constraints of the situation. The fact that he has been lured into a false sense of freedom relates only to an outside observer, the observer who is entirely out of that situation. The sense of freedom is priceless for the person who has it whatever the situation. And when in time, and in circumstance, equipped with a better knowledge, or superior understanding, he would realise that he in fact is not as free as he would like to be then a new realisation will take place alongside rekindled sense of responsibility to ensure his freedom a better level. The man then will create a new dream for his free self, and reside in that to make efforts for his dream to be realised, until some level better still appears in the view to captivate his vision of freedom.

Answer 2

Yes and no. There was an experiment where people were asked to choose their favourite from a row of four socks, which were swapped around at random, and they all chose the second from the right and gave different reasons for doing so. Similarly, posthypnotic suggestions lead to people coming up with perfectly sensible-sounding (to them) reasons for pretending to be a flamingo after a trigger word. This sort of thing is going on all the time. In such situations people are no more free than if they were in a locked room.

However, there is also the subjective experience of freedom in the sense that the future is undefined and does not exist in the same way as the past does, and if he does not discover that the door is locked, that isn't part of his universe. Therefore he is free until he discovers it's locked. This is a more meaningful understanding of freedom, because actually there is no way freedom can be understood from an objective perspective. If one's actions are determined, one has no control, but if they aren't, one can't cause them, so in this sense there is no freedom. Nevertheless we experience freedom subjectively and this is at least equally real, in a similar sense to one's death only being a reality to others and not to oneself (assuming there's no afterlife etc).

Answer 3

Depends! Some seek freedom so much that they believe they are free, to break laws and other things that I won't go into, so when they get arrested or charge, were they really free to commit those things? No.
Every child born into the world is taught that when they reach the age of eighteen they will be free, free from parental control, free to make their own rules. What they soon learn is the freedom of being accountable by age -- 18 + -- they are then responsible for the laws they break. For example, Speeding, if they get caught they weren't free to speed and are ticketed, fined, possible license suspension, etc which impedes their freedom. Had the been a minor, parents would have been responsible.
Sometimes we want freedom so badly, that we fulfill our own desires, and our speech, reactions, etc make others think we are free to do what we want, assuming we are rich, a government official, enforcement officer, etc.
One can feel free, I will warn you, if you wasn't genuinely free, you will get caught and find yourself in Bondage.
I feel free, with boundaries, feel free to ask.

Answer 4

There is no free will. The man chose to stay because it was his will. It was what he wanted most. He could not decide to want to leave if he in the end decided he wanted to stay more.
The door being locked is just a slight bit of irony on top of it all.
So not only is he not free in the literal sense. But even further he is not free to things outside of his will, which is out of his control.

Answer 5

I am not free i have a rent i am tied down to a phone contract i must pay, uni i must study and get a good job or i will be kicked out and will have to live on the streets i am not free at all and not to mention that tax, and that chip in my passport whats that all about, i also reckon every shop/bank computer e.c.t in this country has my details on it so nah I'm not free at all unless i somehow get alot of money and run away to some deserted island somewhere

Answer 6

Even when we think we are free we are not.

This is a free country and we have freedom of speech and yet if you say certain things (which I will not give examples of ) we can get ourselves into trouble.

We are free and yet we are not free.

Freedom in a manner of speaking is a farce and true freedom in my opinion does not exist. We are all bound by rules and regulations about all manner of things.

It very much depends on the definition of freedom. I don't believe it really exists or else we could go anywhere, do anything at any time. Imagine, our freedom would cause chaos and what use would that be.

Answer 7

Depends what you mean by free and freedom.... You can be imprisoned, captivated, yet have a free mind. Or you could find yourself standing in the middle of the Moors, with miles and miles of space, physically free, yet feel very trapped and imprisoned by your mind and thought. I think its a state of mind as well as a physical thing. Blessed are those who manage to have both at the same time! In many ways, we are all stuck to varying degrees aren't we? Stuck in routines, trundling along on the same old tread will, running round the hamster wheel. Obligations, commitments, expectations.

Answer 8

Yes, we often have freedom of choice, but the realisation of the gaining of this freedom is nearly always associated with the decision of others to allow for the choice/favour to be granted.
The prisoner has the freedom of choice to try the locked door, but the fulfilment of his wish for freedom is controlled by other agencies! Perhaps this could be regarded as 'pipe dreams!'
Until persuaded otherwise, we will always have the ability to feel free to make decisions that effect ourselves and others.
The clever bit is how we can persuade others to take notice!

Answer 9

I am free all the time. you can lock the door but you can not lock the mind.

I was one of the best day dreamers when I was in school. Got in trouble for it too
and I always after each and every answer:

Live Long Live Free

Answer 10

Freedom is a state of mind, not being.

I'm told that I am free because I live in America. I have to go to work, I have to pay my bills, I have to take care of my family, I have clean my house, I have to mow the lawn, I have to do many more things but I'm free. Why am I free? Because I think I'm free.