The ugly truth about "free will" and "sovereignity"

[A human Being]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

Likewise have no argument with that. It comes down to something you said a while back about people looking for easy answers. Some seekers realise the (spiritual) answers are far from easy but pursue them all the same and end up with complexity. (Others supposedly give up at the prospect of... work (pardon that rude 4-letter word if you please).

On the same subject, a couple of train journeys recently led me to reflect on how most people's capacity for free will has been deliberately (and severely) narrowed. Having been steered down a well-crafted commercial route they felt obliged to own a smart phone (stage one, selling one of their freedoms). I'll swear that 90% of those in the train were sitting or standing mesmerised by the thing in their hands. The limit of their free will was now flicking their thumb up and down the screen and occasionally tapping to bring something up full screen, dwelling a moment or two then dismissing it. Even as they left the train their gaze was still held by the screen.

So much of their life in what their gadget can yield...? No problem with that really, others might say the same about their homes or their towns, except the smartphone life is so highly edited.

So I have to concede in a way - most people have a highly restricted free will to exercise. People believe they have masses of free choice but they don't. Their route has been chosen for them.

Yes, it's been interesting.

♥

Curse you and your four-letter profanities!

Oh God I know, the smart phone addiction - I swear it's become an epidemic, people reflexively whip the things out the first free moment they get (brings to mind an unexpectedly profound Louis CK commentary on the subject). You nailed it a few posts back, though - it's a question of self-awareness, and the more self-aware you are, the freer you are. It's just a shame that the majority of people appear to be lacking in that department (hell, I'm sure I'm by no means perfect in that regard either).