Freedom, everybody wants it. Liberty, the ability to be one’s own master, a noble aspiration, but I think a truly misunderstood one. Most people want outward freedom only, freedom from the structures of society. Think about that. All the just causes, or even not so just causes that have ever been fought for, whether it’s anti war, anti poverty or anti government, whatever. Whether its freedom from or freedom to, the dissent is always directed outwardly. And all the while failing to understand that the society they rage against, all of its structures and systems, have been created by the human mind.
If you would like to be a real radical for change I would suggest to look within, for your own inner structures. A large part of my day slips into automaticity, an evolutionary trick that helps free up mental space, so I don’t need to rethink how to tie my shoe laces every time. But its a double edged sword because I know I have created psychological structures (little scripts, algorithms that run on certain cues), so I can miss things while on autopilot. So are the decisions I make on autopilot really my decisions? I pay attention while I do the weekly shop, which is just as well, because there are some clever psychologists and marketers working for that particular supermarket chain, trying to make decisions for me. And that’s just the shopping.
So you want to be free? Start by paying attention.
Denis Magee 