The Ultimate Paradox Of Freedom
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by Blender Dumbass
Aka: J.Y. Amihud. A Jewish by blood, multifaceted artist with experience in film-making, visual effects, programming, game development, music and more. A philosopher at heart. An activist for freedom and privacy. Anti-Paternalist. A user of Libre Software. Speaking at least 3 human languages. The writer and director of the 2023 film "Moria's Race" and the lead developer of it's game sequel "Dani's Race".
Information or opinions might not be up to date.
Is it freedom to be rebellious? Or is it just an uncontrollable reaction? There is this concept called Reverse Psychology which suggests that sometimes to obtain a wanted result from somebody it's better to push that somebody in the opposite direction. But reverse psychology doesn't work always. Only when the person feels like his or her freedom is at stake. For example when a parent doesn't allow a teenager to engage in a particular activity. The parent might not be an inherently evil person. He might not desire to exercise any kind of power. He maybe just really wants to protect the teenager. But the teenager feels like his or her freedom is being betrayed and taken away. So they rebel. Is it freedom to be rebellious, though? Or is it just an uncontrollable reaction? Is there freedom at all? Or is it just a big paradox? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Why are you so strange? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: What do you mean? ↩ Reply
Mendel: You always seem to find weird solutions to everything. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Weird? ↩ Reply
Mendel: The guys at work all have this green app thing on their phones. What is up? Or something... ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Whats App. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Yeah. I know you told why you hate it. But it seems like you hate everything that normal people do. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I have a very strong reason to hate it. By the way, have you tried arguing with them to stop using the app? ↩ Reply
Mendel: I did actually. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: What are your results? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Zero results. Nobody cares. Besides I'm not as good as you are at knowing everything. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Well, I'm also not as good myself. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Well, you are good enough... About this app, though... ah... My boss. Well... He wants me to be in the group chat. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Decline. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Yes. But... ↩ Reply
Sheiny: But? ↩ Reply
Mendel: You know you are talking about freedom all the time. But I don't feel it. I feel like you are just restricting the apps I can use. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Oh crap... ↩ Reply
Mendel: What? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I spoke to Mr. Humbert the other day, we talked about Reverse Psychology. It seems you are effected. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Eh... What? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: You see what you are describing is kind of a paradox. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Well, yes. That's what I'm saying. How am I supposed to be free when I can't install this app? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: What is freedom? ↩ Reply
Mendel: I know what it is. You ate my ears repeating yourself over an over. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Well, is loosing freedom freedom too? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Eh... Yes! ↩ Reply
Sheiny: So freedom is unstable and leads always to the loss of freedom? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Not always. But you have to have the freedom to loose freedom. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I think it's quite always. On the other hand you can try limit it to not loose it, in which case you loose immediately. But maybe not immediately. Like there is a question to be had about it as well. ↩ Reply
Mendel: What are you talking about? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Let's take democracy for example. What is it? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Eh... When people can vote for a president? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: When people can control the state. By vote... Yes. But the idea is. Say you want to have democracy forever. And people always choose laws. Or representatives. It doesn't matter. So we have laws allowing people to vote on laws. Right? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Okay, but get to the point. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I'm trying.... Now, what if people decide to abolish the laws that give them the rights to change laws? This is a kind of justification for, say, a ban on spread of communistic ideas or something. The fear is that if communistic ideas could spread, people could believe in them and therefor vote for the state to become communistic. And as we all know, communism is almost entirely opposite to democracy, or freedom. So it's like freedom is only possible when it's non-existent. Because otherwise there would be free speech and therefor you could spread communism and therefor you could loose freedom. So you have to not have freedom to have freedom. It's a paradox. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Ah? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: You didn't understand what I said? ↩ Reply
Mendel: Ah... No! ↩ Reply
Sheiny: You want to have digital freedom, for example. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Yes. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: This includes installing whats app. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Yes, that's what I'm saying. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: But by installing whats app you loose your digital freedom. So to keep it you have to not install whats app. Therefor to not have the freedom to install whats app. Therefor you don't have freedom to begin with. But if you will have the freedom to install whats app, it will eventually lead to installing it and loosing freedom anyway. There is either no freedom at all, or the whole thing is a paradox. ↩ Reply
Mendel: But I can have the freedom to install it, but just choose not to. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Is your choice systematic? Like have you pre-meditated not installing it ever? Or are you asking yourself the question of installing it every time you have the chance and then just so happens that you choose to not install it? ↩ Reply
Mendel: What's the difference? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Well, if you decided ahead of the time that you will always choose one particular answer to the same question, you have no freedom to choose otherwise. Therefor you had no freedom to begin... ↩ Reply
Mendel: Aha! And if I ask myself the question every time. I might install the app and loose my freedom that way. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Yes! ... Well... Alright, perhaps you don't install it. And you always happened to choose not to install it. Technically you do have freedom. But it's extremely unstable. It's very easy to go one way or the other and ruin it. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Yeah, but wait a second. Isn't that also a freedom to choose ahead of the time that I wont install it ever? Like, you know. Controlling your own life and shit. Isn't that what freedom is. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Freedom is control over yourself and things belonging to you. Yes. ↩ Reply
Mendel: So if I can't tell myself to always answer the question with the same answer ahead of time, which will ruin my freedom, I already ruined my freedom to begin with. By not allowing me to set myself this rule. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: This is a paradox after all! ↩ Reply
Mendel: So does freedom actually exist? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: You have to be extremely lucky to be free. ↩ Reply
Mendel: But it's a paradox? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I think there is still a chance that it's still possible. It's like winning a lottery. You have to randomly stumble upon just the right answers all the time, that never takes your freedom away from you. Maybe this is what heaven is? ↩ Reply
Mendel: But if it's all just lucky random chance, do you control anything? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Fuck! You are right. ↩ Reply
Mendel: From the other perspective. Can you control everything about yourself? Like what if you want to walk through another person? That other person has his own freedom, right? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: You are describing a freedom collision. ↩ Reply
Mendel: So there is a freedom paradox on one side and a freedom collision on another? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: One freedom ends where another begins. ↩ Reply
Mendel: But does it even exist if it's so paradoxical? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Regrets! ↩ Reply
Mendel: What regrets? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Imagine you let yourself install whats app then regret it and return back into freedom. You can control yourself. But also can control yourself from your own control over yourself. ↩ Reply
Mendel: But doesn't your ability to regret mean that you didn't have control over yourself to begin with? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: When you controlled yourself first you didn't know that you were to regret it later. ↩ Reply
Mendel: What if you did know? What if you planned to regret? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: Then your plan was all along something else entirely. You plan, then, was to install the app and then delete it. But you could regret having this plan anywhere during the plan itself. And, say, cancel the installation process early. ↩ Reply
Mendel: So is it a paradox or not? ↩ Reply
Sheiny: It's a paradox of whether it is a paradox. So I think it's at least a paradox in that way. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Paradoxical! ↩ Reply
Sheiny: The strange thing about paradoxes though, that they do work inside our minds. ↩ Reply
Mendel: Paradoxes brake logic. ↩ Reply
Sheiny: I'm not talking about logic. You know there is this paradoxical image of a staircase that closes in on itself. It's impossible in real life. And it's impossible 3-dimensionaly. Yet the brain can imagine it. And can even find some sense in the paradoxical situation. I mean even the universe is a big paradox. From one side you have the quantum realm which is just paradox after paradox. From the other side the size of the universe is probably unlimited. Yes there is a limit to what we can see. But there is matter beyond the observable universe. And it's probably endless. Which means that there is infinite matter. And infinity is a paradox in an of itself. The universe is a paradox. Yet I think, therefor I am. Freedom is a paradox, but it's real. And it means to have control over yourself. If you loose it, you loose freedom. But then again. It's a paradox. So it's extremely unstable. I think the great question is what exactly do you want to achieve. Or - what do you want? But this question perhaps is a great paradox in and of itself. ↩ Reply
Happy Hacking! ↩ Reply
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