You are describing a form of true freedom accomplished through strict discipline.You are free of the niggling voice of worry telling you that you still need to do this or that thing you didn't do so the freedom you have is of much higher quality.

We also need to define what we mean by free; unrestricted? unconstrained? uncoerced?

Freedom is both an interpretation as a concept and a feeling but the conditions and nature of each are different. Freedom as a concept means defining freedom and freedom as feeling means interpreting your feelings as being "feeling free" which suggests something more personal and intuitive.

For instance, in the Matrix, you are not free because you are trapped but you feel free because you are unaware. Or you might feel free to live life the way you want but in reality that's only true so long as the way you want means you take care of yourself and your responsibilities.

You can be free to do certain things and not others, intellectually you might see that as freedom but you don't feel free because the things you want to do are the things you can't do or vice versa. Many things to consider... In any case, it's clear there are differences.

So, I recently begun adhering to a daily schedule. At first I felt very restricted and trapped. But as time went on, I begun to felt fulfilled, happy, and "free" in a way. Like, I had no stresses and problems to face since I didn't hold off in doing them. Does being free actually make people feel free? Or are they two separate things? — adamhakeemiforv

Are you mistaking peace for freedom? Peace of mind may come from not having to worry about every small detail as would be the case in an unstructured unscedhuled life. Once we plan and have a routine there's time for all the things we ever wanted to do. That probably gives a sense of fulfillment to us but it definitely isn't freedom in the sense we can do whatever we want. Is it?

So, I recently begun adhering to a daily schedule. At first I felt very restricted and trapped. But as time went on, I begun to felt fulfilled, happy, and "free" in a way. Like, I had no stresses and problems to face since I didn't hold off in doing them. Does being free actually make people feel free? Or are they two separate things? — adamhakeemiforv

Good question. There are varying forms of freedom. There is the core impression of being an actor. There is the feeling of being free in practice. Is there an outside state of freedom that could correspond with that feeling? And what is defined by?

You can be free to do certain things and not others, intellectually you might see that as freedom but you don't feel free because the things you want to do are the things you can't do or vice versa. Many things to consider... In any case, it's clear there are differences. — Judaka

Is freedom to do things an actual, a potential or merely a theoretical ability? And do all abilities count equally towards freedom, like the ability to climb stairs?

There is a difference between what appears to me as my free will and an outside state of the world that allows that will to be effective. A theory of freedom must deal with both parts.

There are strong observations in psychology and sociology about how we crave authority. Sartre was true in his idea about not being blessed by freedom and makes a strong case for having authority over ourselves, but as it turns out, this freedom can in many cases push people, especially those with a weaker mindset, to crave authority, wanting to live under it. This is why it's so easy for authoritarian figures to rise to power, people want a leader, someone who guides them, a parent figure when they've reached unlimited freedom.

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You form its rule over you and when you are ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom.

It's unfortunate that our mind is the most self-delusional piece of thinking equipment we have as a being. We must always think beyond ourselves to see truths and the truth is that we want freedom and when having it we want to be ruled. A contradiction between our intellectual ideas and our emotional inner life.

I can give my answers but it's really all a matter of interpretation.

Personally, I see freedom as more of an intellectual thing. It's about being able to choose things for yourself; your will. When you're being forced to act against your will then your freedom is impaired.

Some people might take that to mean that you are forced to walk because you can't fly, you aren't free to act out your will. I have never really thought that way but it's an extension of the same logic.


Where are you getting your information? Authoritative governments rise to power easily because people want to be ruled over? That's a first for me.

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You form its rule over you and when you are ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom — Christoffer

Most people schedule because it's necessary not because they dislike freedom... Another claim I'm tempted to criticise harshly but if you had anything to back it up I'd like to see.

We must always think beyond ourselves to see truths and the truth is that we want freedom and when having it we want to be ruled. A contradiction between our intellectual ideas and our emotional inner life. — Christoffer

I really just don't see any of this...

.

Where are you getting your information? Authoritative governments rise to power easily because people want to be ruled over? That's a first for me. — Judaka

This is about freedom/authority if you want to go through all aspects of why authoritarian governments rise to power its a much longer post and not about the subject. I suspect that you have the ability to distinguish the specific topic we are discussing and the whole topic of authoritarian governments rising to power?
Of course, there's more to it, but the psychology of how we let authorities begin to rule over us has a foundation in psychology. I think you already know about the Milgram experiment for example?

Most people schedule because it's necessary not because they dislike freedom... Another claim I'm tempted to criticise harshly but if you had anything to back it up I'd like to see. — Judaka

Are you intentionally misunderstanding? Let me break down what I wrote so that you can understand it better

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You (unintentionally) form its rule over you and when you are (unintentionally) ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom.

It's not a conscious intention to do it, it's the unconscious reality of what it is doing to us.

I really just don't see any of this... — Judaka

Maybe study some psychology and you will understand what I'm talking about.

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You (unintentionally) form its rule over you and when you are (unintentionally) ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom. — Christoffer

But since the authority is derived from your own authority, doesn't that mean that it's your will that has authority? And if it's your will that has authority, doesn't that make you free?

If you crave ice cream but have a rule against eating ice cream, is freedom following your craving or resisting it? I would say being able to resist makes you more free, not less.

Your post comes off as very condescending, I don't mind arguing with people but in my experience, it's not very productive discuss things with people who look down on you but perhaps it wasn't your intention.

It is also concerning to talk to people who seem ignorant of the possibilities for valid alternative interpretations. The Milgram experiment hardly showed that people crave authority, it just showed that people have a proclivity towards obedience in the context provided in the experiment. It doesn't weaken your position but I'm not sure how you think it helps it either.

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You (unintentionally) form its rule over you and when you are (unintentionally) ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom. — Christoffer

You are correcting a confusion that never existed, I was not meaning to imply that your views were strange because you thought a schedule was literally an authority that ruled over someone. I don't think it even reads like I implied that - if that is indeed the only criticism you have of my comment. I don't know since you didn't say anything except emphasising "like".

I just don't agree that people feel a tranquillity due to not having the pressure of freedom. I don't know the basis for this claim and what's what I was asking for.

But since the authority is derived from your own authority, doesn't that mean that it's your will that has authority? And if it's your will that has authority, doesn't that make you free? — Echarmion

When you have created an external authority, do you have will over it? If you create an AI that rules over you, it is not you who rules over you, it's your creation.

If you crave ice cream but have a rule against eating ice cream, is freedom following your craving or resisting it? I would say being able to resist makes you more free, not less. — Echarmion

If you write down rules that you must follow, that list of rules has authority over you. Freedom would be to choose whatever you want outside of that list. What I mean is that if you externalize something, it is more than general thoughts bouncing together to form a decision. If you write down exactly what to do over the course of a week, down to the very time to do it and set an alarm to prompt you by it, you can essentially forget everything and let the external thing that govern your week and this is what feels liberating.

Try to hold on to the same thing without externalize it, you wouldn't be able to, since you include the schedule within the thoughts evaluating them.

When you have created an external authority, do you have will over it? If you create an AI that rules over you, it is not you who rules over you, it's your creation. — Christoffer

A schedule is not an external authority though. But even if we go with the AI example: if the AI functions like you programmed it to do, how is that result not in accordance with your will?

If you write down rules that you must follow, that list of rules has authority over you. — Christoffer

Try to hold on to the same thing without externalize it, you wouldn't be able to, since you include the schedule within the thoughts evaluating them. — Christoffer

Are you saying I cannot keep mental track of an exact schedule? That seems absurd. Writing it down might help my memory, but would not change the fact that when I act in accordance with the schedule, it's the mental representation of that schedule, not the piece of paper, that generates those thoughts.

Freedom would be to choose whatever you want outside of that list. — Christoffer

But what I want is to follow the list. That is, after all, why I made it. If I am tempted to stray from it's tasks, it's my will that keeps me on it.

So, I recently begun adhering to a daily schedule. At first I felt very restricted and trapped. But as time went on, I begun to felt fulfilled, happy, and "free" in a way. Like, I had no stresses and problems to face since I didn't hold off in doing them. Does being free actually make people feel free? Or are they two separate things? — adamhakeemiforv

We really would need to define just what we're referring to with "free" here. And that would probably answer the question.

Your post comes off as very condescending, I don't mind arguing with people but in my experience, it's not very productive discuss things with people who look down on you but perhaps it wasn't your intention. — Judaka

And yours didn't? Go back and read your answer to my post, its close to a fallacy-riddled interpretation of the writing I did instead of trying a more linguistic pragmatic approach before acting like the ideas are beneath you.

It is also concerning to talk to people who seem ignorant of the possibilities for valid alternative interpretations. The Milgram experiment hardly showed that people crave authority, it just showed that people have a proclivity towards obedience in the context provided in the experiment. It doesn't weaken your position but I'm not sure how you think it helps it either. — Judaka

Stop using terms like "ignorant" in such an arrogant way if you at the same time complain about the tone of someone else. A little self-awareness would help.

The Milgram experiment is one of many about authority vs individuality, but it's one of the most famous to show how authority isn't something we can easily spot when we are under the veil of its rule. But it also pointed out how we lean back more when someone is calling the shots, the pressure of choice is reduced, which is why when the variations of the study and the replications of the study were made, they could see how the level of obedience lessened and heightened by the level in which the authority called the shots. If the authority person pointed out that the study "demands them to comply" that "it's not their responsibility", the obedience increased. This behavior is attached to their sense of agency of what they are doing, the more responsible and controlling the authority is, the more obedient they got, i.e the less they acted out on their own free will and even continued past just doing what they were told.

This is closely related to how we are formed by our parent-child relations when growing up and how we view that as a comforting authority, in which when there's a problem our parents would take care of us and guide us. Without such authority, all choices are your own and so is the responsibility, which makes many lean towards authority figures who guide them and "saves" them from that freedom of choice and responsibility.

You are correcting a confusion that never existed, I was not meaning to imply that your views were strange because you thought a schedule was literally an authority that ruled over someone. I don't think it even reads like I implied that - if that is indeed the only criticism you have of my comment. I don't know since you didn't say anything except emphasising "like".

I just don't agree that people feel a tranquillity due to not having the pressure of freedom. I don't know the basis for this claim and what's what I was asking for. — Judaka

So Sartre was wrong according to you?

Let's see if we can make an argument out of it, based on a mentally healthy person:

p1 Freedom in choice always leads to thoughts of responsibility
p2 Responsibility always requires conscious effort and energy
p3 Biologically we are always trying to conserve energy
p4 Conserving energy always leads to taking the path of least resistance.
p5 Responsibility is not a path of least resistance.
p6 Giving away choice always means giving away the responsibility of that choice

Therefore, freedom in choice requires energy in order to think responsibly about the choices and because we strive for conserving energy we seek comfort in paths of least resistance, which we don't find in responsibility, but rather in giving up choice and responsibility to others.

Think about authority figures in your own life. If you would have to make a choice for everything around you, that kind of freedom will soon crush you under the weight of its sheer magnitude. You always give away choices in order to find the path of least resistance, you give others the choices you could have made as long as it doesn't affect you in a bad way. You don't choose what to choose, you only choose when the responsibility is or isn't something you want to give away.

If you think about the topic in this thread and ask yourself. Do you want the responsibility to keep track of every scheduled event the coming week in your head, or would you give that away? Even if a kalender is a physical thing and not a person, it still acts as an authority. You give it information and then let you be controlled by it. Essentially it works as an authority who controls your week and because you don't have to be responsible for holding every piece of information in your head, you feel comfortable in giving it up. Imagine if it was a person, you have an assistant that keeps track of everything and you give authority to them to handle your schedule and you trust them. They could intentionally screw things up for you and they have more control than you think because you gave them that power, that authority to plan and schedule for you.

So in the case of authoritarian regimes. Part of the reason people accept totalitarian authority is that they give up the responsibility of how the country is run, they trust their leader because its comforting. Its the same in religion, you give up authority over yourself to a God or institute in order for the comfort of following a path rather than creating your own.

A schedule is not an external authority though. But even if we go with the AI example: if the AI functions like you programmed it to do, how is that result not in accordance with your will? — Echarmion

Because you give up the responsibility of handling authority over yourself, to that of an external thing/person. (you can read more in the longer post above)

Are you saying I cannot keep mental track of an exact schedule? That seems absurd. Writing it down might help my memory, but would not change the fact that when I act in accordance with the schedule, it's the mental representation of that schedule, not the piece of paper, that generates those thoughts. — Echarmion

Memory is very lucid, it's why witnesses can never be taken as factual in court cases, especially over a longer period of time. If you have two things to do the coming week, sure, but if you have 10 things per day to do at specific times, good luck, would you want that responsibility of keeping track or give that responsibility to something else that can have authority over your week?

Even if it's your decisions you write down I'm speaking of the mechanics of why you feel freedom in giving up the responsibility of what to do.

Think about this: You schedule your coming three months, but then experience an accident that gives you amnesia. You cannot remember anything of what you were supposed to do or why and in order not to fall behind you try and stay on schedule. You are unsure of why you do some of the stuff, but you trust it and it gives you comfort over trying to figure out what to do. Who's the authority here? What if the things on the schedule were things you didn't agree with after amnesia set in? But you still know there are reasons for them and you need to do them.

A schedule is like an authority that you invent. You (unintentionally) form its rule over you and when you are (unintentionally) ruled under it you feel that sense of tranquility with not having the pressure of freedom. — Christoffer

I'm getting off topic, but I just want to chime in that there are other reasons for (doing things by) schedules and lists, including it aiding in maximizing variety (while it can also avoid too much arbitrariness at the same time), helping one remember things to aid in time management/efficiency, etc. It's more like a tool in those situations than an authority.

I'm getting off topic, but I just want to chime in that there are other reasons for (doing things by) schedules and lists, including it aiding in maximizing variety (while it can also avoid too much arbitrariness at the same time), helping one remember things to aid in time management/efficiency, etc. It's more like a tool in those situations than an authority. — Terrapin Station

True, I was just going by the question of why it feels that you are "free" when you give up freedom to restrictions through your own schedule.

There's, of course, another reason that can be interpreted by the question. And it comes back to Sartre as well. If you are free to have unlimited choices, that's overwhelming for the mind to quantify, but limiting choices down and following them organize and structure your mind around the idea of choice as it limits them. You then only have the choice of doing the things or not doing the things you have written down.

All depends on how you interpret the question. A broader look is about giving authority over your time to something else that you follow, the other is the psychological effect unlimited freedom has on us.

It's also why creative people feel they are freer to create when there are restrictions, why many big blockbuster movies feel soulless and smaller movies with restricted budgets more creative.

Because you give up the responsibility of handling authority over yourself, to that of an external thing/person. (you can read more in the longer post above) — Christoffer

But this decision is always reversible. There is no enforcement of the authority that you don't do yourself.

Memory is very lucid, it's why witnesses can never be taken as factual in court cases, especially over a longer period of time. If you have two things to do the coming week, sure, but if you have 10 things per day to do at specific times, good luck, would you want that responsibility of keeping track or give that responsibility to something else that can have authority over your week? — Christoffer

This doesn't seem to change the fact that written down schedules are memory aids and what actually determines my actions is my decision to follow the schedule in my head.

Even if it's your decisions you write down I'm speaking of the mechanics of why you feel freedom in giving up the responsibility of what to do. — Christoffer

That's seems a rather odd approach to the topic, considering this is a philosophy forum.

Think about this: You schedule your coming three months, but then experience an accident that gives you amnesia. You cannot remember anything of what you were supposed to do or why and in order not to fall behind you try and stay on schedule. You are unsure of why you do some of the stuff, but you trust it and it gives you comfort over trying to figure out what to do. Who's the authority here? What if the things on the schedule were things you didn't agree with after amnesia set in? But you still know there are reasons for them and you need to do them. — Christoffer

Amnesia is a special case because it raises the question whether or not the person making the schedule and the person following it are actually the same person.

It's also why creative people feel they are freer to create when there are restrictions, why many big blockbuster movies feel soulless and smaller movies with restricted budgets more creative. — Christoffer

You were going to well until that part. :razz: (I'm a fan of most blockbusters, and not so much of a fan of the typical Criterion Collection sort of fare)

But this decision is always reversible. There is no enforcement of the authority that you don't do yourself. — Echarmion

Enforcement and authority are not essentially really the same thing.

This doesn't seem to change the fact that written down schedules are memory aids and what actually determines my actions is my decision to follow the schedule in my head. — Echarmion

So is a decision to give authority to someone else. You can give authority over your scheduling time to an assistant, lots of people do that and then they follow it. I think you are a bit too semantic about this, I'm talking about the psychological mechanisms and how they make you feel, not what a scheduling calendar really is.

That's seems a rather odd approach to the topic, considering this is a philosophy forum. — Echarmion

The topic is a question about why to feel in a certain way because of it, it's very much a question of psychology. Opinions are irrelevant if there's science behind it.

Amnesia is a special case because it raises the question whether or not the person making the schedule and the person following it are actually the same person. — Echarmion

Yes, but that's really the point. What's the difference if you don't remember the reasons you planned for and if you know them?

You were going to well until that part. :razz: (I'm a fan of most blockbusters, and not so much of a fan of the typical Criterion Collection sort of fare) — Terrapin Station

I'm talking about what generally is considered about movies. If you have unlimited freedom you can do whatever you want but that rarely focus your creative mind to think since you can do whatever you want. Restricted budgets force you to make choices and think around problems, which makes you figure out new ideas instead of falling back on comfort.

And yours didn't? Go back and read your answer to my post, its close to a fallacy-riddled interpretation of the writing I did instead of trying a more linguistic pragmatic approach before acting like the ideas are beneath you. — Christoffer

I don't really see it but I will reflect on whether I think your interpretation is reasonable or not.

Stop using terms like "ignorant" in such an arrogant way if you at the same time complain about the tone of someone else. A little self-awareness would help. — Christoffer

I always get called out for using the word ignorant... Don't take it personally, I consider myself ignorant of many, many things and I use the word carelessly. I think what I said is going to become relevant as I reply to your post.

how we lean back more when someone is calling the shots, the pressure of choice is reduced, — Christoffer

So I am really not trying to be condescending, you may be aware of everything I am going to say and you've just said things in a way that don't 100% reflect your understanding but interpretation is a perilous tool for making assertions. Actually demonstrating causation correctly is really hard, now I don't know as much about psychology as you seem to, so I'm not going to contest how you've laid things out.

I'm just going to compile a list of interpretations you've made. It's possible we're dealing with different information but assuming we're on the same page, these are hard for me to accept.
1.

but it's one of the most famous to show how authority isn't something we can easily spot when we are under the veil of its rule — Christoffer

The Milgram experiment appears to me to be very upfront about the importance that the subject obeys the instructions given to him by the examiner. I would find it hard to believe you disagree with this but regardless, I think this is a shaky premise based on interpretation and not a demonstration.

2.

But it also pointed out how we lean back more when someone is calling the shots, the pressure of choice is reduced, which is why when the variations of the study and the replications of the study were made, they could see how the level of obedience lessened and heightened by the level in which the authority called the shots. If the authority person pointed out that the study "demands them to comply" that "it's not their responsibility", the obedience increased. This behavior is attached to their sense of agency of what they are doing, the more responsible and controlling the authority is, the more obedient they got, i.e the less they acted out on their own free will and even continued past just doing what they were told. — Christoffer

Maybe you've withheld information that demonstrates your interpretations but with what you've given me, this is just one possible interpretation. It could show that people resign to strong displays of authority due to fear or a desire not to fight or that perceived culpability plays a big role in our resistance to performing immoral actions perhaps because we think there'll be reduced repercussions or resulting in reduced guilt.

None of this is really even taking one step closer towards the idea that people subconsciously want to off-load choices to authority figures.

3.

Therefore, freedom in choice requires energy in order to think responsibly about the choices and because we strive for conserving energy we seek comfort in paths of least resistance, which we don't find in responsibility, but rather in giving up choice and responsibility to others. — Christoffer

Your premises, if true, still don't necessarily lead to your conclusion, it's just another interpretation.

It may just mean that people want to choose the path of least-resistance irrespective of what that is. If an authoritative figure asks me to do something and I want to choose the path of least-resistance then I may comply. Alternatively, if they ask me to do something and then my friend says "no, we're not doing that". Now I've got to decide whether to argue with my friend or the authority figure, it's all too hard for me and so I just quietly step back and let my friend argue and just go with the flow.

Now I don't actually think that many people are like this, I think it's much more complicated but I digress. It's also true that people can off-load choices to non-authoritative figures such as friends or by metrics like what's popular or trying to follow standard conventions. It might be a byproduct of the unwillingness to make choices that authoritative figures rise to power more easily and that might be a fair claim but I don't agree that the claims you've made have been substantiated ahead of alternatives.

Think about authority figures in your own life. If you would have to make a choice for everything around you, that kind of freedom will soon crush you under the weight of its sheer magnitude. You always give away choices in order to find the path of least resistance, you give others the choices you could have made as long as it doesn't affect you in a bad way. You don't choose what to choose, you only choose when the responsibility is or isn't something you want to give away. — Christoffer

It was pretty bold of you to make this request, is this how you behave personally? Ever since I was a toddler until today, I've hated the idea of anyone having authority over me including parents, teachers, bosses and so on. I have a rather domineering attitude towards others and I always want to make the choices and argue with people who make choices for me instinctively. I guess some people have to be this way otherwise who's going to be in the positions of authority?

I am not going to argue that some people are followers but they don't just follow authority. They follow trends and what's popular, they seek to emulate others, they worship others (even non-authority figures) and so on. None of this is taking a step closer to people subconsciously wanting to off-load responsibility to authority figures except perhaps as a byproduct of a desire for something else. Which if you had argued it was a byproduct of something like a sheeplike mentality, fear or any other number of things - I would think that was a fairly reasonable claim.

So in the case of authoritarian regimes. Part of the reason people accept totalitarian authority is that they give up the responsibility of how the country is run, they trust their leader because its comforting. Its the same in religion, you give up authority over yourself to a God or institute in order for the comfort of following a path rather than creating your own. — Christoffer

If I was put in charge of a heart surgery and a heart surgeon (or anyone really) came along asking "err, would you like me to take over here?", I'd definitely say yes. I'd feel a big sense of relief that I didn't have to try to lead a medical team to do a heart surgery because I know nothing about it. I can think of many possible reasons for this but none of them involve a subconscious desire to off-load choices to authoritative figures.

I don't think you've established the premises necessary to justify your claims and I don't know where this debate can go if you disagree.

dependes who you talk to, me I the answer is no. Because if you believe your free you can't know how restrained you are.

However some person said

I think that yesterday was a crisis in my life. I finished the first part of Renouvier's second Essais and see no reason why his definition of free will — 'the sustaining of a thought because I choose to when I might have other thoughts' — need be the definition of an illusion. At any rate, I will assume for the present — until next year — that it is no illusion. My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.

--William James

To be free you need to have another choice, but as a determinisest I can say that if you feel free you it is a illusion of free will. Is the illusion of flight the same as actual flight. Of course not because one your still on the ground the other you in the air.

No.
One can never be free, but one can sometimes feel as is one is. Hahaha. Its a sad thing.

I think when we get a sense of just how much freedom we have as human beings, we also get a sense of the responsibility that comes with that. When we realise that we have the capacity to choose other than instinct and recognise the diversity of choice that this brings - with no definitive ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ - it can seem overwhelming to just pick one and then take responsibility for it. It’s much less stressful to follow instinct or logic or doctrine or rules or a schedule. That way, if someone takes exception to our words or actions, the choices we make in our life, we can protect ourselves behind instinct or logic or doctrine, or the rules or the schedule. Let them rail against logic, for instance - it’s stronger than I am.

I would argue that the freedom one feels when following a schedule is freedom from the responsibility of making choices. I realise that you have created that schedule yourself, but it’s still one step removed from yourself. The test will come when a commitment crops up that is more important to you than your schedule. Then your schedule may need to change.

At first you will probably make some small adjustments that enable you to keep the majority of your schedule intact. If that commitment is another human being, you may eventually find that you are either trying to change the person to fit your schedule, or that person is trying to change your schedule to fit them. At some point, you may need to remember that you are not defined by your schedule, and then to take back the responsibility for your choices. Depending how far down the track you’ve gone, this can be quite frightening.

Make a schedule if you choose, but be careful not to let it define you, or it will limit your self-awareness, and so limit your freedom to choose beyond that schedule. You may be surprised how easy this can happen. Always remember that you have chosen your schedule from a much wider range of choices available to you.