Freedom vs Constraints- a delicate balance

Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better David Epstein

“Too much freedom is horrible. It's like telling a young child, ‘Do whatever you want to.’...It's certainly bad to be directed to do things very, very narrowly and with no freedom. It’s my guess that for every person who needs more freedom, there are ten people who need more help in finding their way.”

Bell Labs scientist John R. Pierce describing the lab's ethos of 'circumscribed freedom.'

Is there such a thing as too much freedom? Freedom is a common buzzword for political types, but I wonder if any of them have thought deeply about what it means to be free. Obviously we don't necessarily want an external power limiting what we can do, where we can go, or how we can think. But the thought of cutting ties to anything makes us hesitant to free ourselves from the restraints it provides. Too much freedom can paralyze anyone, with directions and decisions that need to be made constantly. So we fall back on constraints to make life manageable.

If these restraints are internally imposed, we are free to change them. But when they're external restraints that can't be changed, that's when we feel more imprisoned than free. One of the big challenges in life is to find that happy medium between freedom and constraints- dealing with both internal and external constraints to have the best life possible.

I've been thinking about the ironic problem of too much freedom. Freedom is preached as an inalienable right, but freedom to do what, exactly? The book Inside the Box by David Epstein looks at how constraints make us more creative and productive, not less.

The universe of choices is enough to make one's head spin. There are millions of movies, television shows, podcasts, and books available at any time, but how to choose? Few of us feel confident enough to look deep into the universe of alternate possibilities. More likely, we look for guidance from friends and relatives for recommendations and narrow our choices down to a manageable few. That may work, but it makes their constraints also our constraints, and some of those might not be suitable.

Imagine the plight of a newly retired senior citizen. The work that consumed most of his or her life is over, and the meaning and friends that came with it are gone. If they're lucky to have enough to live on, they face the onerous task of figuring out what to do with their newfound freedom. Loneliness, depression, and illness typically follow those who don't plan ahead and construct a new set of goals and constraints around which to order the remainder of their lives. The same can happen to empty nest parents, long-term unemployed people, or the seriously disabled. We all need a reason to live, and freedom doesn't always offer any.

Author and holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” That quote has stayed with me, and it fits into this discussion. Our most cherished freedom is the one to decide how to choose wisely and take ownership of our attitudes and constraints. The external stuff doesn't have to intrude, but we need a strong internal monologue to resist it.

This book is full of stories about how big discoveries were dependent upon limits. Dmitri Mendeleev revolutionized chemistry with the invention of the periodic table. But it only happened because he had a deadline for a textbook he was writing. Much of the work had been explored decades earlier, but his moment of focus put it all together. Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Suess, came up with one of his most famous books- Green Eggs and Ham after being challenged to use only 50 words to make an engaging children's book.

Instinctively, we all know that focus is best when distractions are least. They myth of multitasking has been shown by researchers to be a waste of energy. No one can multitask completely- they merely shift their attention back and forth in an inefficient dance between competing jobs. So often we try to juggle multiple things because we fear missing out on something better. Compulsive dating but never committing to one love. Channel surfing and never finishing a television show. Procrastinating on hundreds of things because we want to keep our options open. These are all times when too much freedom makes our lives poorer.

Imagine, instead, a challenge with a set deadline and clear goals. One that we freely choose because it would help us grow and progress. Suddenly we can become focus and map out what needs to be done day by day. We can find the resources and people that can get us there. The deadline forces creators to edit out the things that don't work and come up with a finished product that isn't perfect, but still good and worthwhile. Epstein calls that satisficing, and I'd love to see more of that in the political struggles that continue to divide us. Compromise may not fit perfectly into any story, but it does the job.

Every year I make a list of resolutions, and it can get pretty long. The longer the list, the less I get done. In the future, I think it's best to tackle one big thing at a time until I learn enough from it to move onto another thing. It doesn't mean giving up freedom or goals, but it does mean that the future isn't set in stone for me yet.

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