Free Will or "Free Will?"
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peace
In colloquial English, a Hobson's choice is an apparently free choice that is really no choice at all.
The first written reference to the source of the phrase is in Joseph Addison's paper, The Spectator (14 October 1712). It also appears in Thomas Ward's poem England's Reformation, written in 1688, but not published until after his death. Ward writes
Where to elect there is but one, 'tis Hobson's choice take that or none.
The phrase originates from Thomas Hobson (15441630), who lived in Cambridge, England. Hobson was a stable manager renting out horses to travelers; the site of his stables is now part of St. Catharine's College. After customers began requesting particular horses again and again, Hobson realized certain horses were being overworked. He decided to begin a rotation system, placing the well-rested horses near the stable door, and refused to let out any horse except in its proper turn. He offered customers the choice of taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all.Hobson's choice is somewhat different from a Catch-22 situation, where both (or all) choices available contradict each other.
Henry Ford was said to have sold the Ford Model T with the famous Hobson's choice of "Any color so long as it's black". (In reality, the Model T was available in a modest palette of colors, but the rapid production required quick-drying paint, which at the time was available in only one colorblack.)
This is the quote from Magi that got me thinking
God gave us a free will, but if we use it for other than his will, were doomed for a long period of time. Thus, we have no free will. It is like giving someone a computer, and telling the person that he can use it for anything that he wants, but if he use it for other than playing Diablo2 hes doomed. It doesnt compute. Our concept of hell, as proposed here, must be wrong, or God is an ***hole. However i suspect that is not the case, so we should look over the concept again.
So, has God given us a Hobson's choice?
EDIT just to prevent any misunderstandings, Magi's quote is not his complete post, and it might not say clearly what he intended. It's only here because I wanted to show what got me thinking about this.
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Peace be upon you,
Yes! But think of it this way. God has given you 7 doors to choose from, one of them has 1 Billion dollars in it, the others contain bill collectors waiting to collect from you. We have the freedom to chose any door we want, but the God is instructing us to choose the door with the Billion dollars. yay
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easy folks. If we are a part of god as you two assert,then whats with the whole giving the seperate parts free-will and as a test???Thats like me testing my arm out,and if its not successful throwing it into hell!!! Explain guys?
ps; i agree with magi,its no choice,its my way or the freeway in 'gods' version!!! -
Salaam Phoenix1
Is Hobson's choice different from multiple choice in an exam? Only one choice will get you a grade. Even a no-choice wont help you.
In fact, God's choice is even better. There are multiple choices within His "choice" for each of which you will be rewarded twice, here and in the thereafter; and a "no-choice" will keep you off His wrath, but where, I do not know!!
And there is one bad answer. With God's choices you can't fail, because He gives you the answers, unless you do not think rationally and choose to fail.
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Peace be upon you Enquirer,
If we are a part of god as you two assert,then whats with the whole giving the seperate parts free-will and as a test???Thats like me testing my arm out,and if its not successful throwing it into hell!!! Explain guys?
Lets me give a better example. You have your body, correct? Now within your body there are millions of cells. Each of those cells has an existence of its own. It eats, gives off waste, etc. However, each cell is part of a whole. So while this seperate existence can do what it wants, it is programmed to complement the whole.
Then there is the cell that gets programmed to do something else, its called a cancer. What do we do with cancer cells? )
ps; i agree with magi,its no choice,its my way or the freeway in 'gods' version!!!
Yes, I agree also, but God's way is the best choice anyway.
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ok,thanks kyle,thats the first reasonable explanation i have heard with regard to the parts complementing the whole...One question,does the whole have a seperate will or do the individual parts make up a giant will or is it just an infinite amount of seperate though potentially complimentary wills?
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Peace be upon you Enquirer,
ok,thanks kyle,thats the first reasonable explanation i have heard with regard to the parts complementing the whole...
Thanks ;D
One question,does the whole have a seperate will or do the individual parts make up a giant will or is it just an infinite amount of seperate though potentially complimentary wills?
The Will of the WHOLE is seperate from the will of each individual part. Thats why our job is to understand the will of teh WHOLE and submit our individual will to the will of the Whole, or else we will be the cancer.
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Peace be upon you Pheonix1,
or a "virus" as agent smith puts it.
Right! ;D That movie is great!