Choice

Freedom is the existence of choice. Whether or not humanity has choice is obvious. We do. The question should be how much choice and in extension how much freedom do we have. Can I choose what my opinion is. My favorite color is red. Out of all the colors of the world why did I choose it? To quote the matrix. I already know the choice I’ve made now I have to know why. Were the reasons why I chose the color red as my favorite color under my control or maybe there were reasons outside of my control. My mother’s favorite color is red. Red is one of the three patriotic colors. It also happens to be a color assoiciated with a lot of symbolism. I had no control over these facts. Did they take the choice out of my hands.

The opposite of freedom is fate. Fate is the lack of choice. How much of existence is due do the choices that individuals made or factors that were out of their control such as the weather or an unexpected event. This is a debate theologists and philosophers have dealt with for centuries. How much free will did God give us.

Apart from God there is also society. Do I believe murder is wrong because of my own conclusions or because society says its wrong. I like to believe I make up my own mind on maters like this but my environment does play a role. How much of a role does it play. Everybody has things they would kill for. A mother would kill to protect her child, and a soldier will kill to protect his or her country. Are these archetypical ideals shared throughout humanity or are they cultural.

Family, patriotism, self preservation how much of what a person does in these situation is instinctual. Some people believe that humans don’t have much left, but we still have compulsions that we can’t control. We wish to live, mate, eat, drink, sleep. Biology takes choice away from me. I can chose not to eat for a day but eventually hunger will enter my mind like a gnat gnawing on a leaf. Eventually I would become to feel irritable. Then I would start to feel fatigued. These feelings strongly encourage me to eat every four to six hours. The only control I have over them is to avoid hunger.

This brings up another point, consequence. Is the choice between a rock and a hard place a choice? If I do thing A and thing A gives me a beneficial result and if I do thing B and thing B gives me a negative result I am more likely to repeat thing A than I am to repeat Thing B. Is this a choice?

Ultimately I believe that freedom is limited. I can make choices but I am not always in control over the factors that affects those choice.