Lecture 1: Freedom and Education ~ If you are frightened you will never be intelligent ~ The only way to not be afraid is to not be afraid ~ Choose our values and traditions consciously ~ When you have something you love it’s harder to hold on to ~ We give our freedom away unconsciously The Problem of Freedom: ~ Freedom comes when you understand your environment as a whole ~ To become free requires insight ~ We get more scared as we get older because we have more to loseWE ARE CONDEMNED TO BE FREE QUOTE ON PG 5 ~ Existentialist view: It is a condition; obligated to make a choice (think Nazi concentration camp example)~ Order constricts freedom, yet order creates freedomFreedom and Constraint: ~ It’s not screw the rules its pick the rules~ Better to ask forgiveness than permission~ What makes communication possible is not word, method, or approach, but constraint~ When is constraint redundant? When there are too many rules~ Security without freedom is slavery THINK OF THE SHAKING HANDS EXAMPLE~ Order that gives people a sense of freedom~ Constraint allows us to speak something and have it make sense to another~ We need resources in order to be completely free (ex. Fly somewhere need moneyfor plane ticket)~ Redundant Constraint: Too many rules~ Virtual Constraint: Enough rules to still be free (car example)Cognitive Choices: ~ What does success mean to you?~ Can the crude mind become sensitive??? Pay attention to how I already am. Way of being a BETTER me not a different me (must look at what we do)~ Define success on our own terms (Krishnamurdhi)~ Humans don’t live life by instinct, they live life by choice~ When is constraint redundant and oppressive? When there are too many rules (cant imagine freely)The moment we want to be something we are no longer freeWhen you understand yourself and who you are there is transformation in that Facets of Freedom:~ **Autonomy: Freedom from othersIndependence of judgmentThe power to declare our choice independently of others~ **Agency: Will to choose Our will to and ability to discern and evaluate alternatives w/out bias from external source (i.e. parental opinion) and internal (i.e. sex drive)All about the will to evaluate choices~ **Choice: Range of alternatives~ Exit: Ability to withdrawal Exercised in the presence of oppression ~ Voice: Making your will knownExercised in the presence of oppressionTaking an active and participatory role in managing one’s affairs~ Resources: Means to actualize choice Education and Freedom:~ MALL EXPERIEMENT ABOUT CHOICES Conservative and Liberal Perspectives on Freedom: Freedom To: Freedom to express your preferences and personalities through the individual choices that you make Liberal Freedom (kids who go to college, education makes you want more choices)Do something nobody has done beforeA part of Truth Seeking: The idea that we can always find a better way; can always be improved Freedom From: Free from interference from othersWorking-class Americans (Conservative)Sticking to tradition Uniqueness is more about being alone Truth Keeping communities Freedom in the 21st Century: More concerned with our choices at Wal-Mart than in the voting boothMore concerned with pursuit of commodity of pleasure rather than the pursuit of freedomLecture 2: Of Dogs and PeopleDogs (animals) Pack leader stays the leader by communicatingHeight is a status maker among dogs“Play Bow” When dogs want to play that’s how they communicate Dogs communicate in signals SIGNALS ONLY STAND FOR ONE THING; THEY ONLY HAVE ONE MEANINGSIGNS MAY HAVE MORE THAN ONE MEANING (STOP SIGN EX ITS YELLOW) WHATEVER IT MEANS DEPENDS ON WHAT PEOPLE DECIDE IT MEANSDogs usually communicate with signals so they rarely misunderstand each otherSignals are universal, signs are notDogs live in the here and nowPeopleOur future and past acknowledgment allows us to improve or ponderWe are time binding animalsTime Binding: The process of selecting and combining various elements of past times generations to improve uponPrice we pay for having a past and a futureWe need to feel a sense of meaning in our lives we need to feel meaningfulLecture 3: Four Big Giant IdeasEmpirical Science: Your modern mind is in your head ~ Genetics: Explains how we are predictable~ Mapping of reality ~ Not good at explaining choices and freedom but similarities ~ Cognitive Science ~ Cognitive Choices: Success and failure are two sides of the same coin (both imposters)~ Personal Construct: You’re way on understanding people (one person)~ Schemas: Structure of cognitive thoughts (many people; society)~ Locus of Control: Who, what, where (internal) controls internal – most self established (Existentialism is less self established) WHAT CONTROLS US ~ Causality: What causes what, why do people do things ~ Expectation Violation Theory: Standing (more specific)~ Interaction Adaption Theory: Dinner date example (more general)Attachment Patterns: Childhood relationships will repeat in adulthood~Given too much freedom and not enough space = overly attached as an adult~ Given too much attention and not enough space = overly independent as an adult~ Emotional needs met = comfortable being close with people and independent as well ~ Have to be good at being together and apart~ Distancers vs. pursuers ~ Patterns of attachment with parents effect relationships in the futureTerror Management Theory: Idea that society is anxiety provoking~ When people are reminded of morality we (1) run to something bigger than ourselves (church, fam, god, etc.) (2) Aggression on someone else (i.e. 9/11 example)Existentialism: It’s all in how you walk the walk~ Human condition ~ CHOICE~ How you make what you want to be~ How do I define myself? ~ Human beings are defined by actions and choices – not causes ~ Meaning of life is found in one’s choices ~ We are defined by our actions and choices ~ Trust and trembling makes relationships w God~ “Experiential Values”~ Surrender to the beauty of art and nature “TO DO”~ All about the spiritual experience ~ Freedom To~ When its time to lose there is growth in that moment~ Let life in, make your own meaning~ Living an authentic life (one that you want to live)~ Death is what gives life meaning~ Embracing life to the fullest and the possibilities ~ Meaning is on you~ If we were shown what our potential was, we would all be scared~ Facing the truth~ More open to disillusionment, more open to truthSocial Constructionism: As we communicate so shall we