“This I believe…”: I believe in individual free will.
During the long-term relationship between human beings and animals, we found our physical abilities being in an inferior position while comparing to animals. Nowadays, with the existence of artificial intelligence in our life, we also had to admit that the AI’s analysis capacity had already exceeded us. But to some extent, we are still the rule-makers of today’s world. I firmly believe that it is people’s free will that brings us strong status and powerful belief. Not only does our free will bring us the unique soul of living our own meaningful life, but it also distinguishes people from one another. Thus, instead of socially constructed, one’s free will is more likely to be an individual concept that represents one’s self inside out.
Being an international student now staying in the U.S. academic atmosphere, I do cherish the opportunity studying here and being influenced by another culture. Instead of experiencing the intensive competition like all my former Chinese schoolmates, I can spend my entire college life understanding cultural diversity and learning from a different thinking mode. All these chances coming towards me are due to my insistence of pursuing what I want as well as my parents’ respect to my free will. The United States is regarded as a country who strongly supports people’s free will. This is also my strongest feeling during the past two years. From the simple setting of handicapped parking almost everywhere to the powerful policy caring about people from all regions, people are being respected from numerous tiny details happening here. They always feel relieved when expressing their own ideas in great many conditions since their free will is being protected.
Moreover, another phenomenon I found similar in both Chinese and American society was that people with firm belief and free will were more easily to achieve happiness. Different from lots of people who nowadays hold a neutral and ambiguous position while facing hard situations, those ones with clear belief and steady will are more likely to be satisfied and more likely to accept setbacks. In contrast, people without free wills gradually “loses” themselves in the end as well as becoming more and more alike to the public and alike to nobody. People with individual wills help them win people’s respect in most conditions even if their belief is unique from others. They also understand that they must pay the price of something while earning their own will.
Just as I said, free will is something makes you unique and different from one another. No matter it may lead you into a better or harder situation, it will finally help you win yourself a more authentic identity. Individual free will may not be defined as immaculate, but I believe it should be a characteristic inherently encouraged by everyone.