Defining Choice and Its Powers: Philosocom Decision Guide
- Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein
- Nov 12, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: May 7
(The Directory:
Article Overview by Ms. C. Kingsley and Co.
"Defining Choice and Its Powers" is a comprehensive exploration of the concept of choice, examining it from multiple perspectives including philosophical, psychological, and practical aspects.
The article delves into the nuances of choice beyond simple desire, discussing how choices can be made based on needs, perceptions, or even in opposition to one's desires. The article uses engaging case examples to ground the philosophical concepts in everyday reality, making the abstract ideas more accessible and providing practical applications for the reader.
The article emphasizes the importance of mindset in the realm of choice, arguing that mental freedom is the ultimate form of liberty. By highlighting the power of our thoughts and perceptions, the author inspires readers to take control of their inner world, empowering them to face external challenges more effectively.
The piece draws on various philosophical and psychological ideas, such as Viktor Frankl's example and concepts from asceticism and Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
The article is well-structured, with distinct parts that each focus on different aspects of choice. It brings up important considerations about the limits of power, the dangers of unrealistic ambitions, and the folly of striving for omnipotence. It challenges readers to reflect on their own desires and the importance of realistic aspirations, which can lead to healthier mental and emotional states.
In conclusion, "Defining Choice and Its Powers" is a thoughtful and thorough examination of the philosophical and practical dimensions of choice, combining abstract thinking with real-world examples to engage readers in meaningful reflection on their own decision-making processes.
Every choice you make now will affect your future path and that of the entire collective. -- Mickey Eilon
Part I: Choice: A Philosophical Exploration
Choice is the ability to preserve or alter anything or anyone in accordance with our motives and preferences. Desire is not a necessary component for a choice to be made, because choices can be made regardless of one's desire, even if desire is indeed a major motive for our usual choices. Therefore, a choice can be made out of a need as well, real or merely perceived, or even be made despite an inner conflict of desires.
In addition, choice is also a potential that we either have for a lifetime or for a smaller, more specific period of time. We can either pursue or avoid this potential, and the fact that we have this potential does not obligate us to actualize it.
Likewise, we do not have to reproduce just because we can, and women do not have to be pregnant just because they have a womb. By the same token, people do not have to have intercourse just because they have the reproductive systems for it.
Much, much of what we think is necessary, and much of our beliefs on reality and on ourselves, is but a choice we actively or passively make. It is like that, more than one might think. Given that our perception affects how we behave, think and feel, examining our perceptions and our personal philosophies is crucial to alter our conduct in this world, in a way that aligns with our hopes and dreams.
Case Examples In Everyday Life
Here are some examples of choices that we can make without desire:
We can choose to eat healthy food even if we don't feel like it.
We can choose to exercise even if we're compelled to find excuses.
We can choose to study even if we don't feel like it, with a teacher or independently.
We can choose to forgive someone even if we don't feel like it, or too hard for us to do so.
We can choose to be kind to someone even if they're not kind to us.
These are just a few examples of how we can make choices without desire. It is important to remember that we always have the power to choose, regardless of what our emotions tell us. We do not have to agree with our emotions, and not just our or others' perceptions.
Part II: The Role of Power and Influence
The less external or internal intervention there is while making a choice, the more independently you can choose and execute it, regardless of the choice's nature. Influence, while does not have a direct control over your decision-making methods, is a way to deter you from exerting your will more independently, more freely.
Aspiring to make a choice while you cannot, either because of a disability or because of a powerful obstacle or more obstacles standing in your way, is an incompetent ambition. Given the importance of internal power, expressed in physical prowess and in the strength of tenacity, the incompetence of unrealistic ambitions can deteriorate, the more we work on said internal power.
Such internal power can help you survive, and even prosper, despite the incompetence of others. As long as you are unable to surpass these forces and disabilities in any way and at any point in the future, making you a potential victim of suffering from an unfulfilled desire, and from the futility of those around you.
Accept yourself when you lack the power to work towards living the life you want to live, and you might compromise your own wellbeing, ironically. Be too in despair to rebuild that life, should you fail maintaining it, and your wellbeing may again be compromised.
The Folly of Striving for Omnipotence
Power however doesn't make you invincible, no matter how much of it you have. An invincible power would make fantasies come true, despite their inability to be actualized. Aspiring to choose to live forever, for example, is not an ambition of liberty, but one of slavery. Slavery, to a mindset that can ultimately decrease your mental health through constant feelings of anxiety and fear, as expressed in megalomania. Thus, such ambitions are best discarded by focusing on what can indeed be chosen. On choosing, and aspiring, to be realistic.
However, the more often we act like a genius would, the more we realize we are more capable than we think we are. Much of our power to choose, therefore, lies in our ability to be relentless, and to give up on giving up.
Part III: The Power of Your Mind
What can always be chosen is one's mindset. While you cannot fully determine others' mindsets, you can determine yours, regardless of your situation. Thus, the "ultimate freedom", the freedom where there is optimal variety of choice, does not lie within financial prosperity or a certain, desired social status. Rather, it lies within your mind.
With a strong enough mind, you can grant yourself the gift of being able to live either way. Despite times of peace, despite times of war, despite times of a great success, and despite the times of that success reaching its final peak.
Logically, you will never find any greater freedom than the one that lies within your ability to preserve and alter mindsets. Be able to choose the right mindset, and even the direst of realities can become far less insufferable. It was as seen in the example of Victor Frankl, and in the esoteric realm of asceticism.
Therefore, the choice that we have over our current and potential mindsets should always be our top priority. Such a logical preference can spare us from much suffering when external events do not turn out the way we expect.
Thinking is a verdict for us living beings, but the thoughts themselves can be of our own choosing. If we choose our thoughts, we will not change reality by itself, but we can necessarily change our perception and some portion of our general health.
Part IV: The Value of Active, "Unnecessary" Effort
Therefore, the power to choose, even things that are beyond our basic necessities, can often be seen as a necessity itself. A collective necessity, which is the survival and growth of not only the self, but of entire societies and organizations. Without the utilized power to choose, we wouldn't have had exerted our revolutionary potential, necessary for a better world, as well as innovations.
What differs between machinery and "biological machinery" (AKA ourselves) is that human beings have the additional need to actualize themselves according to their best individual merits. This can be realized even after a day's work ends. Work is not only for the next paycheck, necessarily. Work happens when we actively perform for something to be improved or maintained.
Case Example: The World of Communism and Oppression
The Soviet communists, who believed one should receive a salary "each according to their needs", have ignored the importance of actualizing our merits as a need. This need, as described by Abraham Maslow, overly focuses itself on what? On the individual. However, given the logical interconnectivity of reality, this need is capable of making the whole world a better place, or vice versa.
Such power can be the need to actualize ourselves, that it is necessary to prevent or reduce societal stagnation. Oppressive societies, such as the Galactic Empire, discarded this individual-transformative need as well. In turn, it resulted in growing corruption and to its eventual downfall.
Extra Notes
Here are some additional thoughts on the topic:
Our thoughts are powerful. They can shape our experience of reality, both positively and negatively. We should strive to be realistic, as well as optimistic/pro-happiness. This is the better mental approach, compared to being pessimistic and idealistic at the same time.
Our thoughts play a significant role in the infrastructure that builds our decision-making powerbase. Not only our own tenacity, not only our material power, but also what many of us may dismiss as mere illusions of the mind. That is despite the realistic role of illusions.
We can choose our thoughts. We can choose to focus on the positive or the negative. We can choose to be grateful or to be ungratefully entitled. The idea is to choose the thoughts that fit our ambitions.
Our thoughts can affect our mental health. The better our mental health is (and health in general), the longer our own lifespan can be.
We can choose to change our thoughts. If we are unhappy with our thoughts, we can choose to change them. There are many different ways to do this, such as therapy, meditation, and writing, imperative for the discovery of our mental lives. Philosophizing can also help.
It is important to remember that we are not our thoughts. We are the observers of our thoughts, and we are those who choose their trajectories. We can choose to focus on the positive or the negative. We can choose to be grateful or to be resentful. We can choose to change our thoughts.
We have the power to choose our own perception of reality, and by proxy, we can choose to make our decisions in ways that are more successful, leading us to live the life we want to live!
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