# Rules and Answers By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-03-29 Imagine a scale. On one side of the scale are rules and answers. On the other side of the scale are freedom and questions. Answers, like rules, constrain. Asking questions of oneself or others is an act of freedom. The balance between these two sides is in flux. Sometimes, we, individually or collectively, desire more rules and answers. Other times, we want more freedom and questions. Context matters. Status matters. People with more autonomy tend to seek freedom and question more. More precarious people tend to seek more rules and answers. At work, rules and answers tend to be sought. In one’s hobbies, one enjoys doing what one wants and figuring out one’s path forward. Those who gravitate toward freedom and questioning have difficulty understanding the people who seek rules and answers. Why would a person seek limitations over freedom? Those who gravitate toward rules and answers fear those who seek freedom and questions. Jack Nicholson’s character, George Hanson, in the 1969 movie _Easy Rider_, explained, “Don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, its gonna scare ‘em.” Reactionaries and revolutionaries each talk about freedom. Their talk is revealing. Reactionaries talk of freedom and all the rules needed to enshrine it. Revolutionaries talk of freedom and question all the rules that prevent it. In the balance, real freedom appears on the side of questioning. #### Related Items [[Freedom]] [[Rules]] [[Questions]] [[Answers]] [[Rebel]] [[Conformity]]