Your mind is a suggestion box and “free won’t” is the power to veto any thought or impulse.
You can’t take any single thought you have too seriously.
Why? Because your mind is a lot like a “mental playground,” constantly generating and experimenting with new solutions and new ideas. Therefore, no single thought can possibly define you.
So you had a scary or negative idea, or image, or dream? No big deal – it’s just your mind playing around with new ideas.
It doesn’t necessarily mean anything important or significant. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to act on it. Your imagination just needs to run wild sometimes.
This attitude toward our mind can often help us approach our thinking in a more healthy and constructive way.
Take for example: suicidal thoughts. Of course, there are few things more serious than taking one’s own life. Suicide is a big deal. Suicide is serious.
But thinking about suicide? That’s probably more natural and common than we would expect.
In fact, I find many people have had thoughts about suicide at one point in their lives, including myself. And sure, at the time of those thoughts – things can feel dark and serious, even if we know we would never actually act on it.
Just the idea that our minds would consider suicide, even for a split second, is enough to scare us and worry us, and perhaps lead us to believe there is something deeply wrong with us.
But you have to remember: you don’t necessarily get to choose your thoughts. The idea that we have complete “cognitive agency” (control over our thoughts) is actually one of the popular myths in psychology.
Most of your thinking happen unconsciously, or it’s triggered by things in a particular situation or environment, without your choosing.
Our choice ultimately comes not from choosing our individual thoughts – but in how we respond (or not respond) to those individual thoughts.
In the moment, it can seem like there is only one solution available to you. But the “solutions” your mind thinks of right now can be different than the “solutions” your mind thinks of later.
Your mind is constantly playing with new possibilities. It’s designed to. It can’t help it. It can’t stop.
Don’t like a thought? Just say “pass” and wait for the next one.
The Power of “Free Won’t”
Today, many philosophers of mind argue that “free will” is better conceived of as “free won’t.”
“Free won’t” is defined as our ability to veto any thought or impulse.
Think of your mind as a suggestion box. It’s genuinely trying to help and serve your best interests, but it doesn’t always suggest the best ideas.
Our power ultimately comes in being able to say “NO” to any bad idea or suggestion. That is what “free won’t” is all about.
In other words, human choice is just as much about the thoughts we choose NOT to act on, as it is the thoughts we DO choose to act on.
The philosopher John Searle used to have a very simple demonstration for free will. He would say, “I think about raising my left arm” and then he would raise his left arm.
However, a more accurate representation of “free will” or “free won’t” would be this:
- I think about raising my left arm, but I don’t.
- I think about lifting this cup of coffee, but I don’t.
- I think about lifting this laptop, but I don’t.
- And now… I have a choice.
- Now I have 3 different ideas to choose from, and I can choose which one I want to act on.
- Or I could just sit and wait for the next new thought.
This line of thinking applies to any type of choice we make.
Free will or “free won’t” isn’t about choosing your first thought or impulse. It’s waiting for the second thought, or the third thought, or the fourth thought – and then when you feel ready choosing which one to act on. Understanding these thought process can be an important part of metacognitive therapy.
So “free won’t” is really about having patience with yourself. It’s about giving your mind a chance to reflect on multiple ideas, and then choosing which one you think is best.
This is why, again, it’s important to not take any single thought too seriously – because this too shall pass – and there’s always going to be a new thought right around the corner.
There’s a powerful freedom in recognizing that. There’s a powerful freedom in letting thoughts just pass – and not feeling the need to act on every impulse, or feeling, or thought, or idea.
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