Instincts versus Choice
Freedom is a very contradictory and multi-layered concept. For some, it accounts for money, for others it means not being dependent on anyone, while others still interpret it as human rights to express oneself as s/he pleases. States produce and standardize legal documents so that citizens are granted all liberties; spiritual and philosophical activists develop teachings so as to provide their followers with the possibility of spiritual freedom; doctors and scientists push the boundaries of the possible, so that humanity can make greater strides in the medical frontier. However, a modern human being is constantly spinning in a whirlpool of choices and opportunities. Having accumulated an overwhelming amount of both material and abstract facilities for production, we may easily be lost in the process of choosing what to buy, what to think or where and how to live. Moreover, it seems that there are so many presuppositions for our decisions that require consideration that the choice itself, no matter how multiple the items we choose from, does not ultimately depend on us at all. So does this possibility of choice equal freedom or is there something above choosing that embodies some kind of utter freedom?
Being human with consciousness and a certain type of character and temperament implies that multiple choices are inevitable during life. And as time passes, we are bound to make more complicated choices. At first, parents choose for their babies, then some decisions are made more independently (what clothes to wear or which books to read, for example), and eventually a person becomes mature enough to decide for her/himself. And so we live, following this or that path, swinging between options, unavoidably settling for some while rejecting others.
In the long run, most of our adult choices are burdensome. They presuppose that some previous choices were made, and that some derivative ones will be made in the future. In retrospect, choice is a process predetermined by our life and predetermines our life itself. Choices trigger a circle, which will cause more choices being made out of even more options. By choosing to go to the gym, you also choose to purchase gym clothes, download fitness applications and do some research on the topic. By choosing to marry a person, you also choose to live together, have children and change your life completely. All the choices we make or do not make determine the weight of our life, its problems and their solutions, which is often found to be too heavy when re-evaluating one’s lifestyle.
It is that moment of re-evaluation that strikes us, be it a conscious mediation, a moment of a breakdown or something completely unpredictable like facing a wild animal in flesh and blood when you least expect it. Going deep down our own nature, analyzing the life flow, coming back to what is essential, we all find a new definition for freedom. And that definition, more often than not, is very simple yet difficult to truly comprehend and realize. If to strip ourselves off of all our choices, if to cut off what ‘makes’ us who we are, and what makes us act as people think we should choose to act, then we come back to the simple beast nature of a human being.
Nature is wise, and its power is the most influential one. We all obey the laws of physics and biology. We are all influenced by the movement of our planet and by climate change. Such things cannot be questioned. Freedom lies in nature, as rivers, mountains and animals do not question theirs. They all harmonically fall into place, pursuing their natural callings and balancing their surroundings simply with their presence. Why is it not so with human beings? Human beings have become different from what was created by the laws of nature. We wanted to expand our freedom and, having an adequate capacity (which is intelligence), we began to abuse nature. We figured out how to eat food, which was not designed for our digestive system, by cooking it and eventually even creating artificial foods; we devised how to live in climates not suited for our bodies by putting on clothes, setting up elaborate heating and conditioning systems; we lengthened our lifespan as we investigated the art of curing and medicine. Human beings distanced themselves from nature by all means possible, thereby distancing themselves from the higher laws of freedom, gifted by instincts.
Freedom of instincts is freedom of necessity, absence of thought. This is freedom of belonging exactly where you should, as planned by nature. Instinct is worrying about food, children, place to live, seasonal change and, of course, the threats to one’s survival. They do not include insecurities, standards, inequality; they do not concern unnecessary pleasures or self-imposed grieves; they are above (or beneath?) needless choices. Instinct tells you to eat if you are hungry; choice tells you to decide between all the available options, which may be so many in number, that the decision takes more time than the act of eating itself. Instinct tells you to reproduce yourself; choice, which is pressured by society, tells you to decide upon a partner, job, supplies, housing and other possible factors before having a child. Choice makes the simplicities of instincts so complicated that we sometimes decide not to follow them (for example, the decision to not have children at all).
But is choice the opposite of freedom? As human beings have this opportunity as their characteristic feature, it gives them some characteristic kind of freedom as well, some special kind of human liberty. Being able to choose among options and decide what we like more gives us a complicated and abstract kind of freedom, but freedom nonetheless. Being not as close to the wild as we used to gives us such benefits that are not accessible to instinct-driven creatures. We may travel as far as we want to, we may create content, we may develop technology and reach other planets – things, which are unconceivable for animals. We may acknowledge and process emotions, reactions, ideas and concepts. We are even free to domesticate other species and direct natural forces for our own benefit. Being human has its advantages, and though beast freedom and carelessness may not be one of them, our choices still bring us joy and liberty.
