They always say that "the fastest way to get somewhere is in a straight line". In this modern society of tightly woven suburban houses, factories, and enormous buildings we have prescribed paths that we are meant to take. You don't have to take all these paths, but eventually you will realize that society has set things up so taking any other path is dangerous or illegal. When I walk to the store every morning I could technically hop a few fences and get there in about four minutes flat. But following all the different sidewalks and crosswalks it takes atleast five to seven minutes.
It's sort of funny because I find myself in the randomness vs predestination argument. Are we truly free when the pathways in our homes, our yards, our neighborhoods, our cities, our freeways are all planned out for us? How much room do you have to live your life naturally when there are unnatural paths for us to follow?
I know this may seem like a little thing to most people. "It's just a walkway man...Get over it". But it brings up the bigger questions of "How much control do we have over our own lives?". How much of our life is affected by taking the prescribed paths? Now this can be on a very low level such as what I'm talking about. But it can also be an issue of how much we really run our own existence.
For example the other day my friend and I were walking to the bus stop to go to the mall. On the way there she says to me "I don't want to walk up the hill, let's take the long way". There are two ways to get to the bus stop. One is up a hill and down one street. It's uphill but it's shorter. The other way is all flatland but takes an extra three or four minutes to reach the bus stop. So we went the flatland way. As we start to cross the supermarket parking lot her parents drive up in their Jeep and offered us a ride. This meant we got to the mall atleast fifteen to twenty minutes faster than if we were to have not gotten a ride.
This may sound insignificant, but just think back to all the times a simple wrong turn or an unplanned visit into a new store changed everything. In highschool I met many of my friends through random ways. Some people I would become friends with because one of us happened to be wearing a band T shirt that the other one was also into. Some people I met because we were both class clowns. Some people it was just the simple act of another friend bringing them around.
When I was raided by the DEA for marijuana sales in 2003 they found almost 4 ounces (a quarter pound) of dried cannabis. The night I was raided I was smoking out of a hookah with three other people and was about to leave to nightschool. We decided to smoke one more bowl. About half way through the police busted in and arrested me. I think back sometimes about what would have happened if I had left for school instead of smoking. One simple change of mind, or a decision to stay a few more minutes, or drive a little faster can completely change your life.
So in this world of prescribed paths, how much does this actually affect our freedom of choice? In more "primative" times we would hack a pathway through forests, cross lakes and rivers etc. These days if you tried to cut out a mile and a half by crossing the river instead of going around to the bridge, everyone would look at you like you're crazy, not to mention most likely getting arrested.
So what's my point? Well, there's not a whole lot you can do about this kind of thing except give an answer, which I don't have. I see the universe and society as random in nature, but with chances and possibilities combining to form certain paths. Within these set paths is the ability to use free will. The problem is that it's usually much harder to make some choices than others. For example taking the free way may be the way you're supposed to go, but flying an airplane in a straight line to your destination would be much faster. The problem there is not everyone has an airplane, and there's not exactly landing strips at every location you're trying to get to.
So my advise is this: In your every day life remember that you are subject to extreme pressure to conform and make decisions based on their level of difficulty. To thrive and stay a vital human being you must actively make choices for yourself. If you see a quicker way to get somewhere, by all means take it. If a law doesn't make sense, by all means break it. And most importantly - never regret anything that has come to pass if it was a decision that you made on your own. The only things you should regret are things that you did because of pressure from peers, society, church, government, friends, family etc.
"I took the path less traveled" - Cliche quote from Robert Frost
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