To be free to choose is to be free from commitment

… because to be committed means you’ve chosen already.

To be free to choose is to be free from belonging

… because if you belong you won’t choose not to belong.

To be free to choose is to be free from making choices

… because once you’ve made a choice you are no longer free to choose.

To be free to choose is to be free from any ties

… because ties limit your choices.

To be free to choose is to be free from certainty

… because if your mind is closed you are not free to consider new ideas.

To be free to choose is to be free from needing anything

… because if you depend on something you can’t choose to be without it.

To be free to choose is death.

You’re at a party. Talking to someone new. It’s someone of the opposite sex. Thought goes through your mind (again): maybe this could be the one? Who knows? How could you tell? Nice weather, mmm. Really? I’ve been there too! What did you think? Small talk, small talk. But how to find out what this person is like…? Let’s get beyond the superficialities. Ah!

What kind of music do you like?

As if that could matter! What a strange question! What about her background? What does her father do? Or her grandfather? Where has her family lived? Where do they originate from? What was her up-bringing like? What kind of school was she sent to? Is her family religious? Where do they stand in the social ladder? Surely these are the questions you should be asking if you want to find out what she is like!

Don’t be silly.

Those questions have nothing – absolutely nothing – to do with what sort of person you are. They are about what you inherit by virtue of your birth, not by any fault – choice – of your own.

On the other hand, your choice of music – what you listen to on your iPod or other similar/superior device – ultimately has absolutely nothing to do with your birth. True, in childhood you may have been limited both in what you knew about and what you had access to. But that is no longer the case. Nor is your choice of music affected by anyone else. It makes no difference to them, and it’s none of their business. There are no constraints on what you listen to in private. It is one of the freest choices you will ever make. And if you value your ability to choose, your choice of music will be very close to your heart.

You are most human when your choices are least constrained.

What you listen to is your own free and unconstrained choice, and therefore it is an indicator of who you are.

You are what you listen to.

Don’t you think?

A tolerant person is one who believes that all lifestyles and beliefs (within reason) are equally valid, and is therefore quite happy for people to hold these beliefs.

In contrast, intolerant people have a different (inferior) view of reality, thinking that different lifestyles and beliefs are not all equally valid. These intolerant people will try to persuade other people to change their beliefs. Tolerant people think that intolerant people are wrong about how they view reality: intolerant people need to learn that they are wrong to think of their own beliefs as superior to others and that it is wrong to try to persuade other people to change their beliefs. A tolerant society should not put up with intolerance.

A person is said to value equality if they consider all lifestyles and beliefs (within reason) to be equal. In contrast, people who do not share this conviction do not value equality and therefore should not expect to receive the same treatment as everyone else. This is because such people are responsible for the division and hatred that permeate society.

People may be described as welcoming diversity if they believe that the differences between various lifestyles and beliefs (within reason) are insignificant and certainly not differences in how right or valid they are. Holding this belief helps them to embrace diversity; anyone who draws attention to differences in a judgemental way is a hindrance to this.

If these definitions are accurate, it follows that

• “tolerant” people are intolerant of those who truly disagree with them
• people who value “equality” think that if people are truly different (in their beliefs), they should not be treated equally, and
• welcoming “diversity” is the same as hating true diversity.

I hope I’m wrong.

There has been plenty of discussion in the media about what makes a person British – in terms of values and attitudes. After all, if we ask immigrants to become British, what do we mean? But it’s worth asking that question not just for Britain but for the “Western” world as a whole. What is important to us in our (Western) culture – so important that if it someone tried to take it away from us we would be devastated and indignant? It’s not an easy question to answer.

I think I’ve stumbled on something with this idea of choosing. I’ve noticed this not only in the amount of choice we now have, even before breakfast, but in the fact that we genuinely like to be able to choose. (This is different from being decisive!) People get really upset if you deny them their right to a choice.

Opto ergo sum, by the way, is Latin for I choose therefore I am. It’s a take-off of Descartes, who said, Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am).

As my thoughts coalesce, I’ll cough them up and deposit them here. So I invite you to watch this space – if you choose.

Here are six I was compelled to make before breakfast.

1. Should I get up? I’m not a slave or a child. No one will force me to leave the comfort of my bed. Whether or not to get up is entirely a matter of my free choice – a decision I make (eventually) every day.
2. What should I wear? Who shall I be today? Shall I be colourful and confident? Shall I put on my new self, discovered during last week’s shopping trip? Or will it be the tired old self, 2004 edition, worn out, faded and uninteresting?
3. What shall I listen to? Barely an hour has past since I last regained consciousness. I’ve already had to make two difficult decisions, but this next choice could take the rest of the day. True, Aunty BBC is always proffering her wares, but surely it’s best to consider all the available options? Can I interest you in another radio station, sir? How about one from the internet? Any country you like. Or listen again to any broadcast from the past week. Need a broader range to choose from? How about a podcast? Or some music – one of your MP3s perhaps? Don’t have the track you want? Buy it online at the click of a button!
4. What shall I eat? It’s easy to limit yourself to a hundred varieties of cereal, ten kinds of milk, and a few thousand combinations of bread, I can’t believe it’s any different to Flora and marmalade. But why restrict yourself? Don’t you know what you’re missing? Why not try a continental? Or Japanese (including rice and raw egg)? Pancake? Thai soup? And please – what kind of tea or coffee would you like? This is the 21st Century!
5. What shall I read? Forget the daily paper: don’t you want the freedom to choose? All the major news sources are available online these days – why not customize your Google News page to give you only what you want to read? Or just subscribe to your favourite news sources with Bloglines!
6. Finally, where should I go for my early-morning jog?

When I see news stories about people all over the world who are experiencing hardships, I worry about them, and I rack my brain wondering how I can make a difference. So I decided to start my own blog. That way I won’t have time to think about other people.

People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:

1. The world sure needs more of ME.
2. Maybe I’ll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.
3. No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.
4. I know – I’ll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.
5. If only there was a description for this process that doesn’t involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.
6. What? It’s called a blog? I’m there!

As I said, this is not a blog. Now you will understand why I say that.

However, I have an almost irrestible urge to blog. No joke, I do. Maybe it’s a typical male obsession with things (toys). But maybe this obsession with the latest technology (MP3 players, camera phones, pocket computers, version x of whatever piece of software) reveals something deeper – some utter dissatisfaction with my current existence and a belief that these new toys will satisfy? Now let’s be rational. Why might I find blogging attractive?

1. Blogging is writing, and writing is good for you.
2. It might enable me to meet like-minded people.
3. There’s no risk of you telling me to go away because I’m boring you (relationships without risk always seem attractive).
4. It would allow me to bring all the aspects of my life into one place, so I might actually discover my “true” self. (Though in reality it is more likely to compound the problem than solve it.)
5. Somewhere in the recesses of my being I genuinely believe that technology will satisfy my deepest needs (happiness, security, purpose, etc) and the needs of the world (peace, prosperity). Blogging is new technology, so maybe it provides the answer? Can’t know until you try it!

I don’t like the idea of blogging because:

1. It takes time.
2. The internet is big enough anyway.
3. “I’ll read my friends’ blogs and they can read mine” is a pathetic substitute for real relationships.
4. It may greatly enlarge my ego.
5. I might end up preferring to spend time online with my community of “people just like me” rather than with the fascinating and diverse group of people I happen to meet in “real life”.
6. I’d be supporting my culture’s desire for soundbites rather than substance. Just think, if you gave up reading endless blogs and articles for a week, you could read a book!
7. Come on Anthony, you know that new technology won’t solve the world’s problems. Look back over the past few hundred years, look at the wars, look at the suicide rate in our “advanced” society, look at our broken relationships, social problems and bleak outlook for the future. Isn’t it obvious? Every time something (some thing) lures us in, offering a better life, it fails to deliver on its promises, leaving us even emptier than before, and even more desperate to discover the next innovation, convinced that it might be the advancement we’ve all being waiting for. It’s a lie! Don’t believe it!

So here are my ground rules for future posts:

1. Don’t waste your time or other people’s time.
2. Handy hints for computing are acceptable.
3. So is announcing/advertising things to the world (but not too often!).
4. Thoughts about life, the universe and everything can be posted here only if they’ve already been shared with real people in the context of real, face-to-face conversations.

If I break the rules, please tell me!