Some people use the word ‘freedom’ to mean personal anarchy. Other people use ‘freedom’ to mean using discipline to increase your capabilities.

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Prerequisites: None.

Originally Written: April 2017.

Confidence Level: Two different ways of thinking about an important topic. I don’t have a strong opinion on which is better.

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Freedom is a sacred principle. It is the founding doctrine of the United States of America and a core political value throughout much of the world.

Freedom or agency is also sacred in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If there is original sin in Mormonism, it is Lucifer’s attempt to deny the agency of mankind.

There are wildly different meanings for ‘freedom’, both within and between these two examples. The field is ripe for confusion. I will describe two meanings of freedom here and give them each a name: Personal Anarchy and Freedom through Discipline. Go forth and use these names when this confusion arises.

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Personal Anarchy

Freedom is doing whatever you want. Rules, especially if they are externally dictated, limit what options you are allowed to choose from, so they limit your freedom.

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Freedom through Discipline

By learning discipline, you increase your ability to make and enact decisions. You become more of an agent and less of a reacter.^[1]Not to be confused with being a reactor. Or a reactant. Or a reactionary. Rules, provided they are based on true principles, increase your capability, so they make you more free.

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From the perspective of Discipline, Personal Anarchy offers the illusion of continuous choice, but instead traps you in addictions that limit your ability to make choices in the future.

From the perspective of Personal Anarchy, Discipline is unnecessary. It can destroy individuality and cripple creative thought.

Discipline is valuable in areas where you would like to develop a talent and where you are confident that you know the true principles. When working in areas that are inessential to your goals, applying personal anarchy makes yourself more lively and interesting.