Freedom Of Choice In Society

Sam Richards, a professor from Penn State, discusses how we humans are deeply connected, and how even in our most private and seemingly isolated moments, those connections prevent us from having freedom of choice. He argues that freedom of choice in society is just an illusion. His first example is suicide and suicide rates, which he claims stay relatively the same every year. He says that if you are contemplating suicide, you really have no choice and that the society as a whole that you have been embedded in is what causes the relatively the same amount of people to commit suicide per year. The second idea he brings up is that within the larger society, different groups have their own suicide rates that also stay relatively the same year after year. He says that all groups should have the same suicide

With that said, he asks what would happen if we all thought like sociologist. The first thing is we would recognize that we are never alone. He says that nobody has truly personal problems and that his problems, your problems, and my problems, are our problems. The second thing we would see is that we are empowered, because our actions have profound effects on everybody else. Lastly, he says that the groups we are most connected might be invisible, unbeknownst to us. To me, Richards is completely overthinking and overcomplicating the world we live in. I agree with the facts he brings up, such as the suicide rates, but as far as his analysis, I would have to disagree. Yes, people who commit suicide are influenced by society and their connections, but they absolutely have the freedom of choosing whether or not to do it. Society has major influence on you, but in the end you always have freedom of choice, even though your choices may be limited by society. However, there is nobody that faces the choice of committing suicide without the choice of not committing