This week's F-word is Freedom, and not the political kind. The behavioral kind.
Recording at 7am in a bathing suit and jean jacket (long story), Dr. Daryl Appleton makes an argument that feels wrong at first: much of what we call freedom is the very reason we don't feel free.
She walks through the research, Dan Gilbert's photography study, Barry Schwartz on "maximizers," Isaiah Berlin's freedom "from" vs. freedom "to," and Amartya Sen's idea of freedom as capability, to reveal the two cages we build for ourselves: keeping every door open, and reflexively refusing anyone who reaches for one. The takeaway? Real freedom isn't an open door or a knee-jerk "no." It's the willingness to close a door and the earned ability to walk through the one that's left.
Your challenge this week: name one door you've been keeping open that you'll never actually walk through, and close it.
Happy Fourth of July. Let freedom ring.