what is freedom?

OK, I'll bite. What?

how the hell should i know?
i asked the question, right?

That will depend on who you ask.

According to some, Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, nothin' I mean nothin' honey if ain't free. (thanks to Kris Kristofferson, Me and Bobby McGee, very nice version done by Janis Joplin, youtube it.)


to others freedom is a flame that burns within you, freedom's in the state of mind. Freedom's in the how you think about you...freedom is the right of all mankind.
(Thanks to Shenandoah, Broadway musical)


Ask any 2 people you're like as not to get 5 different answers. first had a talking through on the subject a long time ago, still don't have any permanent answer, it's flexible...kind of like freedom.



.

-Consciousness
-Self Programming
-Understanding
-Choice
-Balance
-Self-direction
-Self-directed growth
-self-honesty
etc

For me -- and I speak only for myself -- freedom means that I can do whatever the hell I want to and choose to do . . . as long as I realize that no matter what I do, my actions will have consequences, either for good or for ill.

your own thoughts make u free you if u think u are a free man inside no matter what u will always be free

Free from what?

not necessarily free from something.
it could be anything, oppression, consequence, slavery, obligation, anything.

If we are talking about freedom in terms of freedom from something, would it not be right to say that a person is free when they are not constrained in any way? So "freedom" is freedom from constraint.

Not just external constraints but I suppose also "internal" constraints, self-limiting thought patterns, assumptions, prejudices etc. Vaguely, "freedom" is probably something that is learnt-people do not simply possess "free will" or "freedom" which allows them to act freely 100% of the time. Freedom can be learnt, through learning about what currently constrains what you can do.

i guess that because no one is truly free, freedom doesnt exist.

Bingo, EP.

Our brain wires itself continuously. It makes literal connections between nerves that 'join the dots' for us - providing us with motor skills, memories, language, habits etc. It's not possible to be 'free of internal constraints' - they are built into us.

It is possible to guide (a lot of) the wiring, and it is possible to rewire the brain. How we wire our brain can be done consciously or unconciously - with will or willynilly. It's up to us.

not constraints. liberations. these connections give us the freedom to perform these actions better, worse, or how ever we feel like it.

By using the phrase "internal constraints", I was referring to things like particular thought processes, particularly unconscious processes, and also thought processes that are barely aware of themselves, and have become automatic in some sense. Assumptions we make about ourselves and the world, and our general understanding of things can become a kind of prison that we reside in. Becoming free of these things is possible, through learning and reflecting on how we behave and live, the way we make decisions and how we tend to think.

There are internal constraints that are beyond our power to manipulate, but I
wasn't referring to them. My point was I suppose that those parts that we can guide in a particular direction, if "neglected", can become very difficult to change in any substantial or significant way. That's probably why we have to be alert to ourselves right, so that we are aware of the process that is "us", which enables a perception of the probable direction that we are going in at any one time?

only insane people have the power to manipulate those internal constraints...

Freedom its a coincidence...nothing more.

Probably insane people have the least amount of power over such things.

your right. their constraints are worn away, and erased. not manipulated.
there is a joy in insanity that only mad men know...
i forget who said that...

Freedom is slavery