THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS
For Janette Wong Community
FREEDOM
1 ODYSSEUS AND THE SIRENS
On his long journey home to Ithaca, Odysseus has to sail past the Sirens.
The Sirens lure men to their death by singing a song so beautiful that anyone who hears it becomes intoxicated and jumps overboard.
Odysseus orders his men to put wax in their ears so that they can’t hear the Sirens.
Odysseus orders his men to tie him to the mast so that he can hear the Sirens without risk of jumping overboard.
As they sail past the sirens, Odysseus is overcome by the song and begs to be untied.
One of the crew becomes curious and takes the wax out of his ears.
He is entranced and jumps overboard to his death.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Who is the most free? Odysseus? The men with the wax in their ears? The man who took the wax out and jumped overboard?
How do you consider freedom in this story? How might it be beneficial? How might it be harmful?
What is true freedom?
SOURCES:
“The Life Inside” (2022) by Andy West (p. 5-6)
BA, THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS group member.
2 SECRET MACAROONS
Nora and Torvald, from Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play “A Doll’s House”, live in a society where women have very few rights.
Torvald is a young rich banker and Nora is his wife.
Torvald holds all the legal and cultural power in the relationship.
But, Torvald adores Nora, so he allows her to do anything she wants.
Nora is free to speak her mind and decide how she wants to live. She is free to see whoever she wants to see.
The only thing that Torvald does not condone is Nora eating macaroons.
But this doesn’t stop Nora. She hides macaroons in her skirts and eats them in secret.
So, Nora can do everything she wants in life.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Is Nora a free person?
Would you rather be Nora or Torvald in this scenario?
How does freedom in Nora and Torvald’s world compare to freedom in the modern world?
SOURCES:
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: “How Do You Know If You’re Truly Free” Ted Talk by Philip Pettit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rTEOU67zCo ; “A Doll’s House” (1879) by Henrik Ibsen.
QUESTIONS: BA, THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS group member
3 FREEDOM!
Enzo the alien is trying to figure out what humans beings mean by ‘freedom’.
He has come across two songs titled “Freedom”. He has highlighted the following lyrics:
Freedom (1984)
“I don’t want your freedom
I don’t want to play around
I don't want nobody, baby
Part-time-love just brings me down
I don’t need your freedom
Girl, all I want right now is you“
“Like a prisoner who has his own key
But I can't escape until you love me
I just go from day to day
Knowing all about the other boys”
Freedom! ‘90 (1990)
“All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you and you don't belong to me, yeah yeah”
“Freedom (I won't let you down)
Freedom (I will not give you up)
Freedom (Gotta have some faith in the sound)
You got to give what you take
(It's the one good thing that I've got)
Freedom (I won't let you down)
Freedom (So please don't give me up)
Freedom ('Cause I would really)
You got to give what you take (really love to stick around)”
Enzo finds these lyrics confusing. He can’t figure out whether humans want freedom or don’t want it. He’s not sure whether they think freedom is a good thing or a bad thing.
He has come to you to for answers.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
How might you explain these two snippets to Enzo?
Are they saying the same thing or different things?
Do humans want freedom?
Is freedom good?
In 1985, Wham! was the first British band to tour in China. They played Freedom (1984). How do you think you might react if you were in the audience?
Why do you think George Michael and many other artists use Freedom as a title/concept for their work?
If you had to creatively express what freedom means to you, how would you do it?
SOURCES:
WHAM! - Freedom (Live from Top of the Pops 1984)
George Michael - Freedom! ‘90 (Official Video)
BA, THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS group member
