14_156"Choice is an illusion. In reality, our lives are controlled by the society in which we live."
Is choice an illusion? Current wisdom supposes so. They believe since our lives are controlled by society, our behavior is far from totally freedom. However, they mistake the choices as only the so-called absolute ones and neglect the existence of relative ones. Yet, in my view, there are abundant of relative choices while the absolute ones are rare, if not absent.
First, there might never exists absolute choices--- by which I mainly mean we could do whatever we want--- from human society came into being. Our life has always been limited by the boundary of social situation. Most of our choices, which are mainly based on our own will despite of interests of other people, would be eliminated, while some others would not be satisfied due to the current level of technology. Society could not guarantee us everything we require, therefore the absence of absolute choices is inevitable.
Then, that we could do nothing to the absence of absolute choices doesn’t endow us with the blindness of seeing the relative ones. While the possibility of striding the boundary of situation is rare, we could still make our choices within the boundary. The apt illustrations of this view involve many aspects of life listed below.
In the realm of business, no one can choose to become as rich as Bill Gates in a day, but there are still many choices to gain our fortune. Were we born in an eminent family, we could have better access to outstanding education and well-organized career so as to make our process to the dream much easier and time-saving; when we are raised up by a relatively poor family, the dream could also be possible only if we pursue it with full diligence and business talent, and the so-called “American dream” is a sound instant; furthermore, a jobless person could even choose to huckster in order feed his family--- only if he will. Thus, though confines whatever mirages, the business field guarantees us with amply relative choices to achieve our wealth.
Things are the same in political field, where personal success should mainly rely on hard-working and finesse. A sensible freshman would not imagine attaining the same reputation as Lincoln during some conferences or speeches, but he could make a steady ascent of the political ladder step by step; to a sophisticated politician, it is naïve to consider of the forever intimate friendship with other colleagues, but alliance is quite possible if they all share the same interests with you. Clearly, it is not beyond the reality that politicians choose another way, which is within the permission of personal capacity and social situation, to gain the same goal as they are dreaming of.
We could finally turn eyes to our daily life, and the situation is of no difference. When we decide our itinerary, such destination as Moon, Mars could be only cherished in our hearts, while there are neither that advanced technology nor financial capability could afford us with this “Arabian nights”. However, if economic condition permits, Europe would be a wonderful destination, we could also choose China if we have some financial pressures; an option of where to have our dinner mainly depend on our own choice. We might not afford a big meal in a luxury restaurant, but a simple one in a café or dinning room would also bring us comfort if the meal is not on the purpose of ostentation.
In sum, as the reasons listed above, I believe we possess relative choices anywhere though we are lack of the so-called “absolute” ones. Maybe we can not ask the society to be what we want so as to satisfy our will, but the deeper we scrutinize our surroundings the more we find that life is not as limited as it seems to be.作者: lakeqian 时间: 2004-11-16 13:40:26