Free Thought
Sven Gelbhaar
14-15.06.2019
In order to exist, we must be free. Nature demands it. By being artificially
limited we are less adaptable in that we are less powerful, motivated, and able
to adjust to the necessities of life and (continued) existence. It is not the
right, but the mandate, for every sentient being to be a free thinker.
Let’s start at the beginning though. The USA protects (the) Freedom of Speech,
Religion, and the Press (which implies Free Thought, because what good are those
liberties without the freedom of thought?). The United Nation’s Bill of Rights
goes further by explicitly protecting Free Thought. It must be really important
then, right? More than you probably know! Freedom of thought is the freedom to
think or not to think, and what to think. Let’s explore this topic and why it
is important to you and whatever group you’re a member of (be it all sentient
beings, humans, country, tribe, family, etc).
Life demands thought. If we didn’t think, we wouldn’t know that we could put
food in our mouths to stop the pain of hunger. If we didn’t think, we wouldn’t
know that we can’t breathe underwater. If we didn’t think, we wouldn’t know to
run away from predators (be they bears, lions, or even other people [enemy
soldiers, cannibals, etc]). If we didn’t think, we wouldn’t even have food (as
but one example) for hunting, farming, and gathering too require thought and
therefore we’d have nothing to put into our bodies and therefore continue our
own, let alone others’, lives.
Back at the start of history sentient beings were rightfully terrified of
existence. “Life is suffering” (-Buddha) The gods were constantly unhappy with
us and (thereby) rained down lightning, fire, and pestilence. To abate this
fear of existence, sentient beings attempted to mollify the divine
powers-that-be with all manner of appeasements, be they sacrificing of goats,
foreskins, virgins, the blood of their enemies and so on. Thankfully some of
these investments/sacrifices were evidently worthy, or reality would have
snubbed us all out. However, the best-guesses of the shamans, soothsayers, and
priests were and are not always accurate. It turns out that reality does not
care one way or another if you believe in the Caesar’s Divine Right of Kings,
because said Roman Emperor was wiped out along with the civilization that
demanded that belief. Clearly the metaphysical doesn’t care one way or another
what we think. Furthermore, if the all-mighty power(s) behind all of reality
cared what we think, then we would be capable of only one (set of) thought(s),
and yet there exist innumerable systems of beliefs (axiomatic assumptions) and
thoughts, and therefore the capacity to change the same as reality demands.
In order to exist, we must be free from as many curtailments as possible.
Artificially mandated beliefs lead to death of the individual (and eventually
the group), for shamans are people too, and are therefore self-interested, and
fallible in their discernment of what the divine wants. Mandated loyalties to
tribes, nations, and sports teams (hahaha) are destructive in that they lead to
the individual subjugating their desires and needs to the group (tribe, nation,
or sports team). Why this is inherently (self-) destructive will be covered in
greater depth later on.
“Convert or die!” The threat of termination is inherently violent. Force is
met with force. The imposition of mandatory thought and actions on others
leads, in significant proportions, to the destruction of the converter and the
converted. Allowing others to think, even to agree with you if they so choose,
is of course potentially beneficial to all.
Freedom of thought leads to some deleterious effects, this is true. Sometimes
we are wrong, for everyone has but limited experiences and knowledge to base
their thoughts on. The CERN super-collider, according to the thoughts of
Einstein and those that for one reason or another agreed with him, could have
created microscopic black holes and obliterated this whole planet and everything
contingent on its existence. Stephen Hawking and company prevailed and
thankfully were right enough, or Einstein (et al) were wrong, because we are all
still here despite the super-collider having been constructed and utilized.
The people who were conceptualizing and building the first atomic bomb thought
that an atomic blast could potentially set the atmosphere of the planet on fire,
wiping out all of human existence. Thankfully, their thoughts were not
artificially curtailed more than they needed to be and World War 2 ended with a
giant bang (well, two actually). Since then there has not been a major/world
war.
Freedom of thought can lead to schisms of human conglomerates. Do not forget,
however, that the ruins of the old lead to the inception of newer, hopefully
worthy, bands, tribes, and nations. The persecuted elements of British society
had the freedom to schism from their religious and political oppression and as a
consequence formed arguably the greatest nation to have existed up until now.
Freedom of thought leads to technological innovations. Without freedom of
thought and its consequences we would still be in the Dark Ages both literally
and metaphorically. If freedom of thought were curtailed we would not have
scientific inquiry, which means we would not have artificial lighting, and all
other technological and scientific tools and amenities which we have today. If
thought is curtailed then its fruits are curtailed, and existence and survival
demand thought.
Self Direction. By allowing ourselves and others the freedom of thought, we
allow all sentient beings the freedom of self-direction. This means that
everyone may choose their own goals. If that goal is self-destruction (outright
or indirectly) then nature will oblige them. For those that choose life, choose
freedom of thought because it leads to freedom of self-direction and
self-preservation and self-empowering thoughts.
I include the freedom not to think, for there are times when thought is
artificially mandated until its contents are those that are desired by the
oppressors. Therefore: “Freedom of Thought”. Coercion is coercion.
Experts, be they scientific geniuses, political leaders, religious leaders (it
matters not), they are potentially tyrants of the minds of others. By imposing
the rule of experts, we save ourselves from tedious thought and experimentation
ourselves, granted, but experts are fallible too. They are limited in their
capacity for cognition just as we all are, and are limited in experience(s) that
leads to cognition. If you want to save yourself the tedium of thinking for
yourself — and expedience is sometimes beneficial in urgent matters — then
fine. However, the tyrants of the day have caught on to this and have declared
a state of permanent emergency and war, and attempt to rule you by expedience.
This leads to oppression, rebellion, violence, and ultimately death.
It’s no better for the experts! If their thoughts are elevated above those of
their followers, then they are implicitly responsible for the well-being of
their followers. Every mandated thought that has negative consequences for
themselves, their followers, and even their enemies, are leveraged against the
tyrants of the mind. This is a huge price to pay, but is also a good thing, for
if we stagnate in our thoughts (and therefore beliefs, actions, etc), we will
die. After all, the most adaptable (read: fit) are the more likely to survive.
The only constant is change. The prior fruits of free thought have done much to
alleviate the tyranny of nature, but nature does not stay conquered forever.
This planet has an expiration date. Either the sun will consume it (by
expanding in a super-nova or by the de-orbiting of the planet due to meteors,
etc). Life changes. We must change with it. If we are confined to certain
thoughts, then our ability to adapt to the changing demands of nature/existence
is curtailed as well. The Earth’s finite nature demands that we, as a species,
must overcome our dependence on this planet. This requires free thought. The
current ways of thinking and doing things are leading to our deleterious impacts
on the climate, overpopulation (read: not enough food, our dependence on finite
resources to maintain the survival of the majority of the human population such
as energy to transport this food, etc). Our current thoughts are not suitable
to contend with ever-evolving diseases. The list goes on. For the continued
existence of those who choose to survive, they must be free.
In Conclusion.
As sentient beings, we all have the inalienable right to choose whether we want
to survive. If you choose to die, then deny yourself and/or others the right to
freedom of the mind. If you choose to live, then choose the means of survival.
Choose to want what you want to want, choose what you want, and choose the right
tools to attain what you want. Not doing so will result in not attaining what
you want, and ultimately your death. What, in the end, is better: Being polite
and obedient, being an expert and/or in charge, or being alive? If we make a
habit of subverting our thinking then we ourselves will be subverted! The
takeaway: don’t give anyone or anything any more power over your mind than
need-be, for by allowing others to curtail your freedom of thought you condemn
all parties involved to stagnation, oppression, and ultimately death.
Further Reading:
Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Notes From the Underground
George Orwell: 1984
Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason
The Church of the Subgenius: The Book of the Subgenius, Revelation X