The following is an article by Q. G. Wingfield, the creative lead for AnthroKey. Taken from the Golden Web, a free publication.

 

FREEDOM! What is it? That’s a big question, so when i say freedom in this article, i’m talking about the freedom to choose. I know that the word has much more meaning than that, especially in the Anthroposophical world, but we’ll start with the basics. 

 

Do you think that you are free? Do you think that when you buy something, in person or online, that you are doing that because YOU want to? When you meet someone and ask them how they are, are you doing that out of freedom, because you genuinely care? When you did/are doing your GCSEs or qualifications, are doing that because you actually want to, or because it’s just ”what to do”?

 

Nowadays, we are missing out on one simple thing. Most people do not even recognise this, and it is not because they are stupid out of what they are, but out of what they do. They simply forget to think. People go to the pub, they go to work, they go to the cinema, they go to the shop, but they don’t even stop to consider “wait, should i be doing this?”. It is just not a part of what they do. This is not to say that most people don’t think, but most people don’t think in a way that truly gets to the roots of things, they challenge things on a very surface level. The earth is boiling, bombs are dropping, and you just want to go to the pub? The actually important things are not being thought about any more, people have generally began to think less, and about more trivial things. 

 

Challenging the foundations of what you believe and what you actually do (because they usually differ, keeping track of that is important) is vital to being free. You must not be compelled by habit! You must be compelled by you, with full and sound knowledge and conclusions being drawn. It’s easy to talk about this, but not very easy to actually do. There are “truths” that you do not want to challenge, and simply telling someone to think more does not do anything at all. 

 

But here’s another problem; Media is trivialising serious things. I won’t name anything, but i’m sure you can think of some instances where a series or movie (or even video online) trivialises someone actually trying to better themselves. Spirituality is made to look silly, the serious is stupid, everything as it is now is fine or even better than the alternative. The problem with this is simple; this content is made with an agenda and it pushes it, really, really well. Consider how this content makes people, and if said people even realise what is happening. Many people take in the beliefs of others like a sponge and regurgitate them without realising that the opinion is not even theirs. Are people trading freedom and what isn’t trivial for some dopamine? 

 

Everything should be analysed without preconceived biases, in any direction. But they are! And the trivialisation, along with social pressure and the things that are pushed onto you as social norms, makes people stop thinking about important things, stop doing important things, and keep going to the pub. It’s a big bucket of crabs, and being self-aware is essentially the only way out. 

 

The truth is simple; in society today we have lost our grip on our lives, and we don’t think we have. In response to this statement, you may think (not consciously, but you may more accurately feel) something along the lines of “But i’m free, that’s not talking about me” you would be doing the same as just about everyone else. 

 

There’s this weird effect that has popped up, and it has gained more prevalence than ever recently, the fallacy of being “Alone in a crowd of sheep”. Essentially, it’s looking at everyone else and thinking of yourself as being more self aware and distinct from the flock, usually combined with doing and/or having literally nothing to distinguish yourself from everyone else. It’s very performative, and everyone falls victim to this effect at one point or another, but being self-aware and recognising it when it comes is the key to staving this off. On the note of everyone thinking that they are independent; 

 

Each social media post, video, image, etc ends up on your timeline not out of pure chance, but because a team of people knows how to manipulate the algorithm, and how to make people like their posts. The only social media strategy that works nowadays is a very specific kind, one that incorporates humour and pseudopersonal remarks. “I just did X, now my boss is going to fire me! Like this post so i don’t get fired!”. These posts are not just a bit of fun, they are the result of a strategy to generate sympathy, laughs, and numbers. The “social media girly” is NOT going to get fired, don’t fall victim to it!. Every single social media post is coldly targeted at you, and as someone who has done lots of research, theoretical and practical on social media strategy I cannot stress this enough, when you scroll through any short-form vertical video platform; YOU ARE BEING MILKED!!! You are being influenced in ways that, unless you are specifically looking for it, seriously change what you think and what you do! If you think you are free you must first think about what you consume, what you take in, what becomes a part of you. 

 

Here’s the bottom line; if things are done out of freedom, and out of habit or obligation, then those things have not fully been done by you. For example; If you are the receptionist for a charity but you were just bouncing between societal norms and expectations (and could have really ended up in any receptionist job), that good work is surely not as good, because it’s not your good work. 

 

Freedom in Spirituality is super important too, when thinking about religion and spirituality you probably have an idea of people trying to convert you to things, people who think they are right and everyone else is wrong, dogmatism and doctrine, it’s a whole section of life that most people ignore. But the truth is everyone needs freedom in spirituality (alongside the scientific method and logic) to develop properly. Even if something is true, having the idea forced on you through doctrine does not help anyone. People must come to conclusions themselves, do practices themselves, read themselves, (not saying that groups aren’t valid, they are very useful as long as the group is a free association of individuals doing similar/the same activity) all in total freedom. Or it’s never as effective, and spiritually; all for nothing. 

 

And yes, children too. Conclusions that come from freedom and reason should be considered and at the very least debated. If you can’t respect another’s freedom because you think less of them, what does that make you? 

 

Here’s an exercise, as a starting point. When you do something, especially the things you do every single day, ask yourself these questions and try to answer them in a way that an alien from a faraway utopia with no war or capitalism would; 

 

What is this? How did it originate? 

What am i doing here? Could i be doing something else? 

Does doing this cause more good than bad? 

Does doing this limit my freedom in any way? 

Do i want to do this? 

Who else would not want me to or want me to do this?