In this blog post we will explore personal freedom, we will borrow some ideas from the works of Friedrick Nietzsche, Ralph Waldo Emerson and George Orwell.
What does it mean to be free as an individual in society? What is personal freedom? It all starts from freedom of thought, being independent to think for ourselves and acting in our best interest as an individual without harming the rights of another individual.
In today's world are we really free to think for ourselves? I doubt it, very few people are able to think for themselves, society has conditioned us in a way that we have lost even our own identities. We do not know who we are and why we even exist anymore. We are lost in a never ending search for meaning and significance.
One, to live a normal life in society, there are rules that have been imposed on us, like looking on one perspective, going to school, getting good grades, finding a job, settling down, having kids, and not lifting your head above the crowd. All rules are meant for us to stay in line and stay in our place. What if this thing we call life was imagined by other people who were probably not smarter than us? What if there is a better way of living? What if there is another advanced civilization living in an alternate world? What if we are living in a simulation? In order for us to imagine a better world not only for ourselves but for future generations to come and the progress our own civilization we need to imagine better, imagination is uniquely the human capacity to envision that is not yet realized and we carry it within each one of us and its available to us but very few on this earth will ever get the opportunity to exercise it.
My call is not for people to rebel against the existing order but to wake up from this dream and start thinking and finding the truth for themselves. We need to ask a lot of “Why’s”, asking why keeps the mind fertile and it’s through this we are able to create new ideas or even new inventions that go over and beyond to push the human race ahead.
Let's explore authority and the conditioning that happens in society in a manner that limits us. George Orwell (1941) 1984 Science Fiction Novel talks about an Animal farm. It's a story of a group of farm animals where some animals are more equal than others, the animals decide to rebel with the hope that they can create a society where they will be equal, happy and free. It's more like what happens in our society today that there are classes, normally depending on many factors like material or political influence one has (control over others). We can learn from this book that we can develop our own characters rather than just being a pig in the system. It is a call for everyone to realize that they can be anything they choose to be irrespective of their circumstances.
How do we then become free? Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841) Self Reliance Essay, urges us to trust our intuition, our own understanding, unique perspectives and instincts. We already have the answers within us, we should not seek outside validation but to trust our inner compass. When we act from this inner trust, whatever we create becomes an authentic expression of this deep trust.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841) Self Reliance Essay Paragraph (3) states: -
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.”
How do we realize our own potential in a society that does not have room for us to be ourselves? Friedrick Nietzsche (1883) Thus Spoke Zarathustra book, he shared the idea of ubermensch where he advocates for an overman. An overman is an individual who strives to create their own values away from societal conditioning and embraces the fullness of their potential as a human being, Comics embraced the idea and created characters like “Superman”. The character is able to defy all rules of gravity to save humanity from any danger. Lots of movies have been created around this idea to inspire hope and strength of character.
Friedrick Nietzsche (1883) Thus Spoke Zarathustra book, further expressed ideas in his writings on the will to power for individuals to assert themselves, share their unique perspectives and strive for self-mastery. I agree with Nietzsche partly and but there are some ideas I do not agree with, like where he talks about the death of God. As I conclude, this is to remind ourselves not to blindly accept whatever we read without doing our own research and also be open to ideas even when they go against what we believe in.
References: -
1. Friedrick Nietzsche (1883) Thus Spoke Zarathustra book.