Freedom And Constraint

Human freedom emerges only when it's guided by constraining factors—this is the paradox that many lovers of freedom fail to realize. I am reminded of the meaning of a "technique"—say, a technique for playing tennis. A tennis player learns specific ways of gripping and moving a tennis racket, for example, of moving around a tennis court, of making contact with the ball, of moving to the net, of serving, and of returning tennis balls from an opponent. The more consistently a tennis player carries out these activities, the better the person will be at playing tennis. These consistent ways of playing tennis, taken together, make up the player's technique. And what does a great tennis player experience and demonstrate when her technique is serving her especially well? Greater command and control, as well as the freedom to express her amazing skill creatively. And yet, she is able to achieve such excellence only because her technique requires that she play tennis not in just any way, or in many ways, but rather, in very precise, limiting ways.

The mastery and creative freedom that she experiences, in other words, results directly from her technique that tells her not only what to do, but just as importantly, what not to do. The relationship between freedom and the restrictions of technique is such that the better the technique, the greater the constraint—and, as a result, the freer and even more creative the performance. Freedom by way of technique, then, is not freedom from constraints, but the freedom to constrain. This logic applies not only to sports—it's the very core of human freedom whenever it's expressed. The rule-of-thumb is very simple: human freedom requires placing proper limitations on its expressions, or else it will turn into its opposite, chaos and bondage.

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