We have come to believe that having complete freedom is the road to complete happiness – but is this true? In reality, even the most capable of us is limited.
Limitation is natural.
To begin with we are mortal, therefore there is a limit to the length of our lives. But we are also limited in other ways.
As Jordan Peterson says in his talk, Virtue as a Necessity, some things about us are neither our fault nor to our credit, they are just arbitrary facts of being –
…a human being is predicated on a fundamental limitation – you are what you are and you’re not other things…
This might seem like a bad thing but I don’t think it’s at all bad – just a fact.
If there are no limitations, then there are no boundaries. If there are no boundaries then there is no being and everything is just one mush of reality.
This is not the same as oneness. Oneness means that we are all distinctive parts of a whole.
Mush is just mush.
Is there some part of us that instinctively knows that human beings really excel within limits?
If not, why is it that when we invent games we arbitrarily create ‘rules’? (see Virtue as A Necessity).
Is a dance still a dance without ‘rules’ and ‘limits’?
Or a football game?
What are the challenges we face when dealing with limits?
How do we distinguish a real limit from a limit imposed by ourselves or our societies?
For example, because immortality is not an option we can’t just choose not to die ever, on the other hand many people have achieved great things by overcoming apparent limitations. How can we tell the difference?
It is clearly difficult to find a balance between over-control and the natural, healthy limits that we need in order to keep everybody safe and help our societies to function – so how do we do that?
When does free speech become incitement to hatred, for example?
Is there a natural line?
If so, where is it (and how do we recognise it)?
(Answers on a postcard…)
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Related articles
- Developing Communities of Support. Another look (hopeworkscommunity.wordpress.com)
- Know Your Virtues (regina84.wordpress.com)
- Virtue (olmwsimpletruths.wordpress.com)
I’ve just been writing about limitations; thought I’ll have a break, check my emails and noticed your post – here a quote (first draft) so fresh from the paper the ink hasn’t dried yet: “We need our limitations to motivate us and to help us stay focused, yet their significance transcends our single selves: Our limitations enable us to grow as individuals within the Flow while at the same time contributing to The Universal Solutions Pool, for others to benefit.”
I’m happy to see that you are thinking along the same lines: “…many people have achieved great things by overcoming apparent limitations.” and “…healthy limits that we need in order to keep everybody safe and help our societies to function…”.
Else “…everything is just one mush of reality”. How true 😀
(Sorry, I tried to send you a postcard, but it got stuck in the drive…)
You know what they say – great minds think alike!!!!! (We’ll forget the fools seldom differ part btw!!!) Looking forward to your post!
Sorry to respond with another book, but books are good! 🙂 Finite and Infinite Games by James P Carse is short, a little strange in its approach, but brilliant on this topic of limits. He talks about Finite Games where we play within the rules of a game. And Infinite Games where we play with the rules. And he also talks about frontiers: limits to our imaginations and horizons which move even further as our imaginations move us forward. I think our imaginations don’t have limits, I guess. And of course I think conflict can be used to extend our imaginations, our creativity if we listen to difference……to the ‘other’….without losing who we are either….
Ed – please don’t apologise for recommending books – that books sounds great – looking forward to reading it. I agree about ‘difference’ – I think it has the potential to give us more than we realise if we just stop being afraid of it! Thanks for the comment – and the recommendations!
Good post, Patrecia. Lots to think about.
I do believe that freedom is a key to happiness . . . but have never viewed anyone or anything as completely free. We are, all of us, subject to natural laws, such as gravity, hunger, and thirst while we are on this mortal coil.
The freedom that I strive to attain is from arbitrary rules designed to “keep us in line” so that we are more easily “herded.” I also seek freedom from ego concerns which drain energy without adding anything of value (such as fear and guilt and regret and worry).
Rules in games stem from the desire to create order in the midst of chaos. 😉
Good points, Nancy – thanks for that.