Do we have the freedom to think?

I was thinking about this yesterday so I thought I'd share it with you guys and see your thoughts too.

My question: Are we free to think?

It may seem obvious at first because you will say you have the freedom of thought because you can think about whatever you want - your mind is private.

But look at it from a different angle; for example the news. They represent stories however they want, you are constantly influenced by their representations of things thus making you have similar views to them. Yes you can physically think any thought you want but the thoughts that you think of are influenced from other people or institutions so are they really yours?

 

If someone hears a news story about a "New Way of Life" and the person, from then on, lives that life, then yes, he was influenced.

But if that same person, hears the same news story, but instead of blindly following it, actually does research to see if it is the better way of life, then chooses it is, then he was not influenced, he was informed.

 

Your influenced because you let yourself be influenced. Same with emotions, if you allow yourself to be angry, your going to be angry. Nobody else controls what you think about therefore we do have the freedom to think.

 

Influence is one thing, Decision is entirely different. Yes, it may be biased or judgemental because of the reflection various media sources may produce, but it was YOU who made the decision to think in whatever way you are, not them.

 

We are absolutely free to think.
It's the negative actions that result from thinking that get people in trouble.

You can think about killing someone all you want, the only way your freedom will get taken away is if you speak about it, attempt, or commit.

 

I would say the latter person is also influenced. He might be well-informed, but at the same time he's influenced by that information.

 

The best thing about thinking is the ability to judge and decide what we want to influence us. Since we have that ability, we have the freedom to think.

 

It depends on quite a few things, tbh.

For 1, according to Shredder, I'm deterministic, as I believe our personalities are practically shaped by a certain age, and thus we will always react to certain things in the same way as our mind is currently set.

So, in that sense, though we do kind of have the ability to think, there are certain things we are incapable of thinking about, and certain ways we are incapable of thinking. We have the freedom to think, but we don't have the freedom to think what we want. Our brains are wired in a certain way, so everything that can happen to us will be interpreted by those in the same way as everything else is interpreted, and we will behave according to what those wires have predecided for us.

We're machines programmed and designed in a specific way . None of us have the exact same brains, however, which is where diversity comes in.

So, yes, we're free to think, but we're not free to think about things in ways we're not programmed to think.

 

A nice answer Deacon but are we free to think if our thoughts are constantly influenced by external things. Are they our thoughts?

 

Of course their our thoughts, external factors are what shape us. I cant imagine any person not influenced by their surroundings/enviroment or any outside stimulus. I read a few psychology books about this very subject while doing some time and to put it simply "Our thoughts are a constant flowing river." and "We are constantly adapting to our surroundings" Those stick out in my mind atm. Thoughts are perpetual, You cant stop them from birth (and maybe before who knows). Also, I think it's niave to think one can live functionally without learning how from outside stimulus.

 

They are still our thoughts and decisions.
Whether you have been influenced by something it was your decision to allow that to help shape your opinion.
Your thoughts are truly yours because it is not often that you will believe every single small detail of something you have seen or heard.
What you decide to believe out of something is usually based on what you knew or believed previously and since that is different to everyone else, the final thought that you have can be deemed yours.

 

Indeed, so how would you determine what thoughts are yours not and someone else's?

 

You are free to think about whatever you want. It is kind of hard to think about things that you haven't perceived or experienced yet, so we instead tend to think about things that we see and experience everyday. It's not that we aren't free to think about other things, it's just common sense to spend our time thinking about things that matter.

 

How is understanding a fact, influencial?

 

I'd say as long as you don't act on stupid thoughts you're free to think anything your heart desires.

 

If you understand a fact, don't you let your understanding of that fact influence you in order to make better decisions?

 

Ah, different perspective, different answer. Sorry, didn't understand at first.

 

A few of you are big quite close-minded with this. You cannot draw from your own knowledge, look outside the box or use epistemological knowledge (for philosophy geeks like me.) Consider the media's influence on people's views and consider someone like Rupert Murdoch's hegemonic control on several media institutions. He could influence and change the views of millions, by editing just a few words in a story or showing the story from another perspective. Are those millions of people's thoughts about that one subject really theirs? Or are they Rupert Murdoch's?

 

Those millions of people's thoughts were influenced by the media. People always have the freedom to not go to the media for information and therefore think about whatever they want.

 

If I am influenced by Rupert Murdoch, then no one should question whether or not they're my thoughts, like you're doing. Of course they're my thoughts. My thoughts, however, have been influenced.

EX -

I've been influenced by a friend to do a certain action. It's still my action, I've simply been influenced by another to do so.