Potential: The Power of Choice and Free Will
A Journey Through Stories and the Ethical Duality of Human Experience
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Who likes a good story? I do, for one. So allow me to tell you a story about potential: from my mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts. Please forgive me for my intertextuality: my inner Trekkie is vying for air time. 🖖
Grab a cup of your favourite substance, sit back, and prepare yourself for a thought experiment that will nullify boredom, emancipate you from the mundanity of rote routine, and get those synapses firing.Â
Stories: what are stories? Stories are Powerful didactic tools used for imparting wisdom, Demonstrating social and ethical behaviour, and warning about consequences. Conversely, like most things, stories contain potential that can be subverted for nefarious purposes.
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For instance, let's look at a hammer. A hammer contains the innate potential to help build a beautiful house, destroy a beautiful house, or take a life. The tool itself is inert—neither good nor bad. That potential for its usage lies within the hands of the wielder and is subject to their intent.
That potential is the power of stories in particular and language in general. Now, let's think of potential as the precursor to free will. Evil, or, more precisely, the potential to commit 'evil' acts, grants us the ability to choose between good and evil. Free will requires duality as a minimum standard for it to exist.
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Think of it this way: I want you to make a choice—because you are starving; I offer you an apple to save your life; you have no choice if you're going to live. On the other hand, if I offer you a cornucopia of goods, you can use your free will and choose from the varied offerings. You can exercise free will.
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Consider this: can love truly exist without the potential for hate? Can the concept of good be understood without the potential for evil? Can there be free will without choice? The moral of my story is that potential exists as a catalyst for exercising free will, and free will imbues us with agency (the ability to act the way WE choose).
Potential is the seed, free will, the capacity to choose, and agency, the action that actualises choice. The intersection of these three concepts forms a triad that defines human experience and ethical existence. Now, grasshopper, snatch this pebble from my hand, go forth, live long and prosper. 👊☯☯🖖
Glossary of Terms
Didactic:Â Â My use of the term "didactic" refers to something designed or intended to teach something, particularly in an instructional or informative way. It often implies a focus on moral or educational content. Didactic materials or approaches aim to convey knowledge or impart lessons.
Intertextuality:Â A nod to other texts or forms of media. My use of intertextuality in this story refers to (alludes to) Star Trek and the Vulcan mind meld.
Potential: Potential refers to the inherent ability or capacity within something to develop, improve, or become something else.
Free Will: Free will, as used in my story, is the power to act without the constraint of necessity or fate, the ability to act at one's own discretion. Think about the apple analogy: there was no choice, no free will.
Agency: Agency, in my story, refers to the capacity, condition, or state of acting of your own volition by exerting power (making a choice). If people cannot make choices, they have no agency or personal power.
Synapses: Refers to the junctions between nerve cells where signals are transmitted.
Cornucopia: Refers to an abundant, overflowing supply of choice: the veritable Horn of Plenty.
Star Trek and Vulcan Mind Meld: In the Star Trek universe, a Vulcan Mind Meld is a telepathic link formed between two individuals, allowing for the intimate sharing of thoughts and emotions. This process enables the participants to become one mind, sharing consciousness in a kind of gestalt. This concept aligns with the exploration of potential, free will, and the power of stories, as it represents a powerful tool for communication and understanding but also holds the potential for misuse.
Snatch the Pebble from My Hand:Â This phrase is an intertextual nod pointing to the 1970s television series "Kung Fu," where the Shaolin master Po challenges his young pupil, Kwai Chang Caine, to snatch a pebble from his hand. This seemingly simple task symbolises mastery, patience, and the attainment of wisdom. In the context of my story, it represents the culmination of understanding and the readiness to apply learned knowledge and wisdom in the real world. It serves as a metaphor for achieving a level of proficiency and enlightenment through disciplined mental practice, introspection, and philosophising.
Gestalt:Â an organised whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.