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Freedom is both an integral part of the human condition and part one of its greatest fallacies.

The sense of freedom is such an integral part of the human condition; in believing that we each determine our own fate, we can accomplish unimaginable things in this world. It is, after all, the magic of possibility, of what could be, that gives us an inexplicable sense of wonder and awe.

Yet the more that we believe we are each in control of our own lives, the more space for judgment and hatred we create in each of our interactions. To any reasonable being, what justification is there to bear resentment towards, to mock, or to ridicule them? If we are all a product of our circumstances, we need only to have compassion, patience, and justice with those of our kind. All we can hope for from this perspective is to create a better world for future generations, to be the change we seek to make—which then, of course, requires that we believe in our own free will.