Here's something I wrote on my old blog almost three years ago. I made this new blog because I found some of my old posts very juvenile and cringe-worthy and wanted a new start, but some of it is still content I want to share. This definitely falls under the category of "musings". (Lightly edited from original text.)
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What it freedom, anyway? It's an abstract concept and it means so many different things to different people. Does it have to be just one of those things? Is there an objective standard of freedom, or can all people be free by acting out their personal ideas of freedom? Are you free as long as you believe you are?
I suppose the easiest way to define freedom is the ability to do what you want to do. But that definition has its failures too. Let me paint a picture for you.
Imagine a little boy lived with his parents in a big house. He was allowed total freedom to roam wherever he wished. He had everything he needed and wanted. The only rule was that there was one particular room he could never enter, or even open the door to it. What he couldn't possibly know was that (here's where it gets a little weird) it's some sort of crazy horrible room. Once you enter, you can never escape. Naturally, as a little boy, he'd be awfully curious as to what's behind that one forbidden door. But are his parents, with their knowledge of the dangers beyond the door, hindering or helping his freedom by keeping him out? It's true that one could say he doesn't have total freedom if he can't go into Every Single Room. But it's also true that allowing him into that room would take away his freedom to go into any of the others. So perhaps, part of freedom is being protected from making choices that would enslave us. Total freedom doesn't mean we can make ANY choice. It means being able to make good choices.
Just a random thought.
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