1 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Carly Taylor here for this week's Mojo Monday. 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: I'm reading a book At the Moment by Jean Paul Sartre. 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: He's a French philosopher and the book is on existentialism. 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: It's really really interesting. There's a quote in it, and 5 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: the quote is man is condemned to be free. Now, 6 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: at first glance, that might sound really strange because freedom 7 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: is something that we kind of think of to celebrate, 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: not to be condemned by. So why would it be 9 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: why would it feel like a condemnation. But Satre wasn't 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: talking about freedom in the simple sense of doing whatever 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: we like. He meant something deeper and something more, I guess, unsettling, 12 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: and something that, once we understand it can really change 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,639 Speaker 1: how we live our lives. So Stu and I hope 14 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: I'm pronouncing that right. Satra Sutra's point was that we 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: are always making choices, whether we realize it or not. 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: There is no external force, no fate, no divine plan 17 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: that dictates who we become. So we define ourselves through 18 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: our actions, moment by moment by moment, and that's where 19 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: the condemnation comes in, because if we are free, then 20 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: that means We're responsible for what we do, so there's 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: no escaping it. Even when we avoid making a decision, 22 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: we are still choosing. And even when we let fear 23 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: or doubt or habit dictate our actions, we're still shaping 24 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: the kind of person we are becoming through our choices. 25 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: So Satra described a concept called bad faith when we 26 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: pretend that we don't have any freedom. So think about 27 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: the moments, and I think we've all had these moments 28 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: in our lives, when we've said to ourselves or we've 29 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: said to somebody else, I can't do that. It's just 30 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: the way I am, or I have no choice, it's 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: out of my hands, or that's just not me. And 32 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:19,839 Speaker 1: Satre would argue that these statements are excuses to escape responsibility. 33 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: No one is born brave or kind or disciplined. We 34 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: become those things through our repeated choices. And when we 35 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: tell our selves we have no choice, we are lying 36 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: to ourselves. We are living in what he calls bad faith. 37 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: And he does distinguish between things that we can control, 38 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: which is our choices and our actions, and the things 39 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: that we must accept, which is our external circumstances, other 40 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: people's reactions or chance events, and he calls this despair, 41 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: meaning that we must act without illusions. We can only 42 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: control our own will and what directly pends on us. So, 43 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: for example, he says, we must limit ourselves to reckoning 44 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: only with those things that depend on our will or 45 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: on the set of probabilities that enable action. So this 46 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: means that we can't expect the world to conform to 47 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: our wishes. We act without guarantees, and that makes sense 48 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: because there's no guarantee of outcome, so we focus on 49 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: the process, We focus on what we can control without 50 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: expecting guarantees of an outcome. You can contrast this freedom 51 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: with despair. So we are free to make our choices, 52 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: but not free from the consequences, the uncertainty, or the 53 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: actions of others. And Sata rejected the idea of a 54 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: fixed self. So he argued that we are not defined 55 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: by our past, or our emotions, or what society expects 56 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: from us. We are what we repairdly do. So a 57 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: person is not lazy, they become lazy through their actions. 58 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: Or a person who's not brave they become brave by 59 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: acting courageously even when they feel afraid. And this is 60 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: why Satu's philosophy is both challenging and it's liberating because 61 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: it removes the comfort of excuses, but it gives us 62 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: complete ownership over our lives. So we take responsibility over 63 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: our actions. So what do we do with this responsibility. 64 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: We can start by noticing the moments when we tell 65 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: ourselves that we have no choice. We can remind ourselves 66 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: that every action or inaction is a decision that is 67 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: going to shape our future self. So this week, when 68 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: you find yourself maybe hesitating when you're making a choice, 69 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: ask yourself, am I choosing this based on fear or 70 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: based on the person that I want to become? And 71 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: am I living as though I have no freedom when 72 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: in reality you do? Because in the end, as Sata 73 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: reminds us, we are condemned to be free, whether we 74 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: like it or not, So we may as well make 75 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 1: the choices that move us towards the life that we 76 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: truly want, and be responsible for those choices. So have 77 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: a great week everyone, and I will catch you next week.