Does a person have real freedom of choice in thoughts and actions, or is the subconscious mind writing all the scripts? What wins: will or system of values?
No one will argue with the fact that every event happening now has one or more causes in the past. On the other hand, we have the feeling that we can act arbitrarily as we please. At the intersection of these two ideas, the main question arises: if actions have a reason, does this mean that their behavior is predetermined, and the feeling of free will in this case turns out to be an illusion?
Let’s do a thought experiment. A person is forced to commit an immoral act by putting a revolver to his temple. If his life is dear to him, then he has no choice, right? Freedom presupposes an alternative — the possibility of doing otherwise than in the only way.
You may argue that our hero could still make a choice — to agree to a lethal outcome. Such a choice is possible, but it requires very good reasons. In other words, the choice will be determined by the values that guide the hero.
We can make a choice within our value system, but we are not free to choose the system itself. And this is an interesting psychological paradox. For freedom of choice, we need alternatives. But what if the value system denies us this?
Human consciousness can be imagined as a movie that we watch in the inner space. Within the framework of consciousness, we see a ready-made picture, the one that a team of directors, screenwriters and cameramen has prepared for us. We have no idea about the filming process, the budget of the film and the casting of the characters.
How can psychotherapy help? The fact that the client recognizes himself, learns to recognize his needs
We can look left or right, listen to music or talk to a neighbor. In this metaphor, the film would refer to our conscious experience, while filming it would refer to our unconscious.
The choices we make are in many cases forced because their causes lie beyond our ability to recognize them.
In psychological language, this is called «getting into a merger with your model of the world.» For example, this is how the transmission of family scenarios through generations works. Unconscious emotions associated with relationships between relatives create tension that leads to avoidance of certain topics. Suppose sex is forbidden. Any relationship is discussed as if there are feelings between their participants, but there are no physical contacts. It will be difficult for someone who lives in such a system to be aware of their sexual needs. And it is likely that these unsatisfied needs will push him to acts that he will consider reprehensible.
How can psychotherapy help? The fact that the client recognizes himself, learns to recognize his needs, realizes the repressive nature of defense mechanisms that are irrelevant to him.
Metaphorically, this means that he can move to another room and stop watching thrillers that scare him. In other words, he will be able to move towards awareness of what determines his choice.