Comment by labrador | Hacker News Reader

Comment by labrador | Hacker News Reader

    All the world's a stage,
    And all the men and women merely Players;
    They have their exits and their entrances,
    And one man in his time plays many parts,

    - William Shakespeare, As You Like It

The funniest thing about TV Tropes is the realization while reading them that people can be categorized in real life by personality types and these roles we play are not entirely within our control. We've been conditioned to play them. Funny for me as an American because we've been simultaneously taught that we're individuals with the freedom to be who we want to be. Why do we end up playing well trodden roles? Is it because it's easier or do we not have free will? [1] [2] [3]

There are various techniques for waking up and breaking out of patterned behavior put forth by various spiritual practices which are interesting

[1] Robert Sapolsky: You don’t have free will, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX7bs4uvPyc

[2] Human behavior on social media is similar to collective behavior in nature [today's front page], https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33582795

[3] The Illusion of Free Will, https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-illusion-of-free-will

I found the whole "free will" discussion always somewhat strange. There seems to be some underlying assumption that anything short of being able to pull completely novel ideas from thin air is not free will. This seems odd to me, because everyone knows that our decisions and motivations are influenced by all sorts of things, both intrinsic and extrinsic. We are inspired by common culture and learned knowledge and we are influenced by memories of past events, emotional affinities which were also shaped by past events and for a good parts biological drives as well.

Nevertheless, within all those influences and based on the information we have, we are able to make a decision. I would still qualify that as "free will".

Exactly. Maybe it’s because I don’t have enough brainpower but I’m perfectly happy for society to determine parts of my I don’t put much value in. Clothing styles, haircuts, what music is on Spotify.

I recognize the value in being novel in those areas and I respect people who are passionate and put in the time, but I prefer to focus on the things that matter to me

I’m self aware enough there are millions similar to me in a lot of ways, I’m a product of my genome and society mostly, and marketing demographics work. But I take from that more of a stance of brotherhood. We are all on the same journey and we should find kinship and empathy in that.

I took a look at your comment history and matched you to Stepford Smiler

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StepfordSmiler

I’ll take it

I’m more than vulnerable to my close friends but I do enjoy everyone having a good time

The definition of free will is not a concrete thing. Part of the discussion is debating how to define it.

I say this because one view is in line with what you've described.

Etymology of person:

> French personne, and its source Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). In this sense, displaced native man, which came to mean primarily "adult male" in Middle English; see Old English mann. Doublet of parson and persona.

Person == mask == ego.

Ego, personality are the things we wear. Spiritual enlightenment in a certain way for certain paths is the "realizing/awakening" of a beingness that is separate from the ego/mask/persona. In that state one has the ability to detatch from any particular mask and become more fluid in their performance in the cosmic stage.

Very few actors can convincingly play someone very different from themselves and we tend to lionize those that can. Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Depp. It appears to me that most actors go to school to learn trope behaviors so they can become working actors that churn out mass market performances.

> Why do we end up playing well trodden roles?

One theory is that we're not aware nor can break free from the three major types of anxiety in life such as fate and death, emptiness and loss meaning, and guilt and condemnation.

We struggle to find peace with #2 and #3 given #1 will always be present in life.

Shakespeare knew this given how often he asked the question of "to be or not to be".

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175141.The_Courage_to_Be

One aspect of "enlightenment" is to be free of these anxieties and emotions, not that they are gone, but that they are manageable within the context of the self and do not overwhelm.

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