Kennedi Santomenna - HUM 1020 - CRN 14242

Chapter 16: Freedom

"We can't decide whether or not to speed if we don't have a car (16.2)."

Based on this quote, everything we do revolves around a choice. Every day, people make choices that can affect their lives positively or negatively, such as stopping at a stop sign. When I was little, I got into a car accident that made me scared of driving. I was driving home with my mom and sister after a trip to the grocery store. It was dark out, and my mom was driving through a four-way intersection. Before I knew it, a bunch of drunk high schoolers ran the stop sign and t-boned our car, hitting my sister and me. Luckily, no one was injured, but it sparked a fear I have had my entire life. It was the high schooler's choice to get drunk, to drive, and to run the stop sign. Had they decided and made a good choice, nothing would have been so life changing.

"If we aren't able to afford the right kind of education, our choice of jobs may be limited (16.2)."

When I was growing up, there was no question that I was going to college. My parents were not entirely pressuring me, but they were preparing me for college my whole life. I remember my mom would freak out whenever I got an F in middle school. She would say, "You are smarter than this." I was unaware that she was like this because she wanted me to go to college. My mom did not go to college due to her conception of me, and my dad got his associate's degree at a very late age. They always tell me now that I need this degree to have a proper and stable job.

"Many argue that the phrase 'free will' is redundant; that if one has a will at all, and that will can be exercised, then it is necessarily free (16.3)."

As I have previously mentioned, everyone has a choice to do better in their life. People can have trouble deciding what their meaning in life is, but they have the will to do things. This quote means that if you have a will, it is free. People have the free will to make decisions and to change their lives. In some ways, life is sort of biased, especially with society and social class, but it doesn't mean everyone has to live underneath that bubble of expectations. Life is incredibly short, but by having the will to do better and live with precaution can make life worthwhile.

References

Richard Paul Janaro & Thelma C. Altshuler, 2017, The Art of Being Human, 11th Edition