What's wrong with this equation
I travel to our office every day for the past 4 years. It's about 12km. Within that period of time, I pass through 24 sets of traffic lights. 24! If they are in my favour, I can do the commute in less than 15 minutes. In the morning it's more like 40 minutes.
So during my commute, some external force aka traffic lights have the power to tell me what to do 48 times.
Got me thinking. We think we have free will from the time we wake up till we go to bed. Subconsciously, we are governed every day by rules beyond our control. How fast we should drive. When to start and stop. Where to park. What to eat. What we watch on TV and when.
We think we have choice but in reality our choices are never in a vacuum, they are always within some defining box. The designated parking spaces within the car park. What we can order at the local coffee shop.
Then there are the choices we think we are making but really are influenced by who we know, what we see on billboards and ads and what our friends may think.
I like to think I have the freedom of choice. But in reality for the most part of our lives, our choices have already been made or we are fooled into thinking we are choosing when someone has already defined the options.
So during my commute, some external force aka traffic lights have the power to tell me what to do 48 times.
Got me thinking. We think we have free will from the time we wake up till we go to bed. Subconsciously, we are governed every day by rules beyond our control. How fast we should drive. When to start and stop. Where to park. What to eat. What we watch on TV and when.
We think we have choice but in reality our choices are never in a vacuum, they are always within some defining box. The designated parking spaces within the car park. What we can order at the local coffee shop.
Then there are the choices we think we are making but really are influenced by who we know, what we see on billboards and ads and what our friends may think.
I like to think I have the freedom of choice. But in reality for the most part of our lives, our choices have already been made or we are fooled into thinking we are choosing when someone has already defined the options.
posted by The Idea Dude at 10:19 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the post. Recently, I've been thinking about exactly this issue and reflecting on where my life is headed. I've asked (and still continue to ask), "How I can make my life as meaningful as I wish it to be? What things do I need to start/change/release/explore?"
Thanks for stopping by Jon. I think we owe it to ourselves to never stop changing, exploring, releasing and starting.
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