Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrian  Keith: Your views just about match up with my views! I think you have free will in the realm of your context, and you can change the borders of / switch up the context as often as you like. (What possesses you to change contexts - free will, your context promoting that behavior, etc. - I don't know. But I think it's possible!) |
If our views basically agree, I'm afraid that doesn't come across in your blog entry.
Your blog entry makes it sound like your context is entirely out of your control.
It also fails to mention that you control the
filter to your context.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angela Quote: |
...your context determines what kinds of behaviors you'll take...
| That, in my view, is the epitome of non-responsible point of view.
Although I agree that context, or circumstance, influences what behaviors you'll take, only individual choice determines it. |
I would go a step beyond "influences" and say that your context
constrains (ie. places a border around) your possible actions.
However, I think I'm using the term "context" more broadly than Adrian - I use it to include both your environment
and the mental filters that you apply to that environment. After all, all of us are experiencing our environment subjectively, so the way we perceive is as much a part of our reality as the objective facts, and we can only take actions that fall within that reality model.
eg. Someone with a pessimistic outlook on life can't just instantly become an optimist because they decide to. Their context doesn't support it - they won't
believe it, any more than you could choose to believe that you can fly.
They need to reshape their context first. Perhaps by posting positive quotes around the place. Perhaps by constantly reminding themselves that optimism may be subjective, but so is pessimism. Perhaps by deliberately reading about a role model who made a similar life change. etc. etc. By expanding their context to one that makes optimism a
possibility they can change.
BTW, to me, your difference of opinion with Adrian is largely because you have such an expansive and empowering context (probably both external and internal) that the boundaries are hard to see. Adrian, OTOH, seems to have a context with a lot more constraining boundaries than yours.
My context is closer to Adrian's than yours but I'm in the process of trying to expand their borders.