How much of our life and things in our life are really under our control? Isn't it all really a result of the choices we make? Do we really have any control? I'm beginning to think that we only have choices and no control. Life is all about making appropriate choices...
2007-12-05 03:00:49 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Maybe its the "chicken or the egg" argument... but think about it - you don't control the rain, but you can choose to take an umbrella. You don't control other people's moods, but you can choose to treat them in a way to enhance your relationship. It's mostly about good choices, not really control.
2007-12-05 03:16:21 · update #1
It works like this. You can make choices. But no action is free. Nothing can take away your choices, and nothing can stop a cost from accruing, but there are many things that can change the costs and change the benefits.
So if you or I didn't want to get wet today, we might carry an umbrella. There's a chance it wouldn't rain and we'd be carrying the umbrella around for nothing, and there's also a chance that it's windy and our umbrella won't be much use. A wise person is aware of this when he makes that choice.
And he is also aware of OTHER choices. If we REALLY didn't want to get wet, we might stay in our house all day instead. Of course, that might get us fired from our job if we did it too much, which is a pretty steep price to pay. Or we could wrap ourselves in cellophane (let's see the wind get through THAT!) but the price of that would be getting really hot and probably being thought of as very weird by anyone we ran into. Or we could just accept the possibility of getting wet and stash a bunch of dry towels everywhere to minimize the damage.
And the beauty of the situation is that just scratches the surface of things we might do. Our choices about how to deal with any anticipated problem are virtually limitless. The amount of those choices we can actually afford, however, depend a lot on our personal abilities and resources.
It may be that you CAN control the weather by seeding the clouds from an airplane or altering wind movements through clever construction. Whether you can afford this level of control regularly is another question!
2007-12-05 06:22:14 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Life has always been about making choices and that act in itself is control. You control what your next move will be and we hope that the choice we have chosen gives us the best outcome. It's when we lose the ability to "choose" that we lose control. I can choose to become pregnant. That is a choice, but I can also choose not to. That is also a choice. I am controlling my life, but your question opens up so much more then just one straight answer. It's complex and can be looked at in many different aspects. Each one "choice and control" cannot live without the other. If you make a choice you are taking control.
2007-12-05 11:19:58 · answer #2 · answered by Tee 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, we certainly are not in control of everything that happens. it is the way we perceive and react to things that turn them into something good or bad to ourselves.
For an instance, a promotion (at the long term) might be something negative for our career, due to more responsabilities, more work, more stress, etc... and we can always take the decision of renouncing it.
So, I feel it's more of a question of perspective, since even our own actions might be as well pre-programmed, but that would be a whole different discussion.
Hope I helped.
2007-12-05 11:25:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never thought of it this way, but I agree. Very much so, life is about making appropriate choices. Best!
2007-12-05 11:10:28 · answer #4 · answered by ♥вєαυтι♥ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you make the choices...so youre really in control
2007-12-05 11:10:58 · answer #5 · answered by Heero 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
both but at different times.
2007-12-05 12:07:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Find the inner depths of "you" and you may find that neither are true!
2007-12-05 11:14:41 · answer #7 · answered by Premaholic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋