Comments on: The Limits of Our Freedom

By: Our experience is an echo of our inner world | Effortless Abundance

Our experience is an echo of our inner world | Effortless Abundance — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:53:14 +0000

[...] a previous post, I alluded to the idea that our experience of reality is like an ‘echo’ of our inner [...]

By: Zoli Cserei

Zoli Cserei — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:59:47 +0000

Wow Peter, that quote is very deep. At the moment I can’t even really tell whether it got me thinking so heavily because I am not native English and it first felt a little tricky, or because it’s really that deep. I believe the truth lies somewhere between these two! Funny!:))

By: Real

Real — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:24:02 +0000

You cannot measure the influence of stimuli on your own response, which itself is only based on what you’ve been able to conclude from previous stimuli that cannot be controlled, as we are a product of our environment. Earth was here first, not us, and the stimuli it provides has been out of our control since the day we were born. Albeit telling people they are free is a good way of giving people a sense of control over their lives, but it can be dangerous for people to assume they have this unlimited power over the things that they do as it may lead to some serious disappointment and confusion.

By: Effortless Abundance

Effortless Abundance — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:39:50 +0000

@Lin, thanks for your comments. You are right that in such a short article one can he points you can only throw out a few ideas and skim the surface. The points you raise are worthy of discussion and reflection. In particular, the extent to which our formative experience influences our future experiences of the world, whether this limits our autonomy in any way, and the timescale over which such autonomy emerges, are very pertinent issues.

Perhpas I will try to explore them further in another piece.

Thanks again
Mark.

By: Grehund

Grehund — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:05:46 +0000

An excellent post. Just yesterday I wrote a similar article about personal choices and freedom through thinking on my own blog. This was a great source of encouragement and reinforcement. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to lucianop for alerting me to it.

By: Lin

Lin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:11:28 +0000

Thank you for sharing your views on personal freedom — I find Viktor Frankl’s quote truly beautiful. The ideas expressed in your post are very potent and thought-provoking. I agree with you in most instances, though need further time for deeper reflection. Your paragraph entitled ‘We are responsible’ is somewhat troublesome for me — while I agree that every ‘person’ is and should take complete responsibility for his/her own freedom, actions, reactions, life, etc., when in one’s life does that responsibility become actually possible? Children, from birth through age ???, are simply not able to conceptualize personal responsibility or freedom — hard-wired into an infant’s brain, and necessarily so, is the instinct to be merged with the care-giver; there is no sense of ’self.’ As such, they can be, and much too often are, victims. Your blanket statements that “We are not victims!” and “We are in control,” while encouraging and hopeful, are too comprehensive and fail to take into account that there are true victims and that the damage caused in early development may not be able to be overcome so as to find that freedom and responsibility. Do not mistake my words as hopeless, however. Another quote I find beautiful: “Perhaps strength doesn’t reside in having never been broken, but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places.” I’m afraid I don’t know the author of those words, but they give me great comfort and hope. In any case, thank you again for providing me with much food for thought and a forum in which to respond.