Good try! Dialogue can be a Powerful way to explore ideas (Plato, anyone?). You seem, from your picture, to be young, so I’ll assume you are, and share with you my views on this subject, as if you are new to philosophy (if I’m wrong, forgive me for philosophy-explaining).


You might enjoy reading Jean-Paul Sartre on free will. For him, freedom is the human condition. But, life’s absurdity is a problem. What does freedom mean in a meaningless world? He answer is to choose your path. In committing to your path, you work out your freedom.

So, what your dialogue describes as a prison is for JP the only real freedom - the freedom to follow your own commitment.

I’m 64. There’s a lot to what he is saying. Though I’d say you have to beware of rigidity. If you discover your choice is in fact horrible, what do you do? Sartre choose to be a Communist. And, when he learned of Stalin’s gulag where a multitude of political prisoners were sent to live and die - the great philosopher refused to expose and denounce Stalin. If there’s a moral to that story, it is to choose your path with all your heart. But don’t concede your power to make different choices in the light of new information.

As for me, I got a divorce when my marriage went sour. But I kept my choice to be a good father to my son.