How can a person be truly free in society?

I was in class the other day when our teacher asked us this.He mentioned that everyone is influenced by those around us, and the media to be a certain way. Also the government creating laws to keep us under its control. And I was wondering what you guys tought about it? How can we be free?

The way I see it, society merely provides us options, like a menu, and we are always free to pursue what we want. Its not society that hinders us or puts us in a cage, it is us who do it to ourselves.

But what if I don't want to be "provided" options that have been chosen by society.

No such thing as absolute freedom. Not today.

`what does free mean to you?

who wants to follow me to create our own rapture ^^
I just need a rich electric engineer hmmmm

True freedom does not exist anymore,not that its bad.

I don't think you can have both. to be part of society you must conform. to be truely free you must abandon society.

RBZ, I guess I probably said it wrong, the options are there but youre not limited to merely choosing from whats there too. Take fashion for example, we have fixed options - considered as styles, but if you want to create your own unique style that doesnt exist yet then you can.

Or like that guy who married his pillow. What stopped him from doing such an outrageous act? Or even the guy who lives with his doll for a wife, he has normal friends and hasnt been detached from society. I mean society offers a human as an option, or god but you can choose not to go with those.

Think more on the scale of government. There are rules that restrict your actions = you are not free.

What rules are restricting your freedom? I feel that society gives me freedom since it enables me to things i couldn't do if i was all alone.

Would you be allowed to sit naked out in your yard smoking pot without some asshole ruining your chill space?

Just for the sake of discussion, if I want to kill someone I think I can pursue that desire. But of course other people are also free to pursue their own desires and - kill me in return for my choice.

Just the same as Im free to say humanA looks like shit, humanA is also free to talk back and say I look like a mushroom.

Society the way I see it is just like a guide for possibilities

Freedom doesnt just center on one individual

I would be able to sit naked out in my yard for sure, dunno if my neighbors would bothered if they saw me smoking never really been in a situation like that.

Absolute freedom will never exist, not if I am allowed to kill, mug and rape legally.

People think too highly of freedom. So many people act as if freedom is this pure thing that allows you, if you have it, to do whatever you want. In that sense, no human being is free. We're inhibited by our own bodies. We cannot jump fifty feet in the air. We cannot swim entire oceans. We cannot even stay awake for an unlimited amount of time. We have to eat and sleep. Forget society. We're not free, by the simple fact that we exist in a physical world.

I prefer to think of freedom as a scale. You can have more freedom than others, even if you live in the same city. Rich people have more freedom than poor people. At least, they have more of a certain kind of freedom. I also believe that they are different kinds of freedoms, which can be measured on a scale. I am free to say almost anything I want, in almost anywhere I want, without fear of repercussion. For freedom of (actual) speech, I have an 8 out of 10, I'd say. But I cannot start my own business, because I lack the funds or the credit to acquire the funds, as well as a suitable business idea. For freedom of enterprise, I have a 2 or 3 out of 10. A person with a lot of money and good ideas for a business would have a 7 or 8.

So, do we have freedom in society? I know I sure as hell can do a lot of things. And despite the media and my parents and society as a whole telling me what to do and think during my childhood, I'm able to do and think most everything I want.

If I was isolated from society right now, I feel that I would actually have less freedom than I do right now. I'd have to work hard to get food and shelter. Most of my time would probably be spent keeping myself alive, and that would leave a lot less time for thinking and doing the things I enjoy.

Society affects us, but it also takes care of us. A person completely "free" from the moment of birth would be nothing. How could a person talk without being taught how to? Could a person even learn how to walk if he had no one to watch, to see how it's done? As for the government, if you live in a country like America, you can try to change things. Just about every citizen of America has the ability to vote and voice his/her opinion in some way. It may not make much of a difference, but like I said, there's no absolute freedom for us humans. From the moment we're born, we are unable to do certain things.

Who are these people that think being free includes doing things beyond the limits of our bodies? Meh, they're weird.


Convenience =/= Freedom

dammit i was about to say that!

but really if you want true freedom, become rich and go buy your own country

How about living in an uninhibited island that is isolated by the modern world.
Can you count that?

thats kinda what i just said XD

well it was what i was going to say next.