# Are we our own prisons? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388 "2017-04-27T19:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fredescu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/73ab20/32.png) [@Fredescu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredescu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/21 "2017-04-27T23:33:25Z")
I think that can be an accurate description of suffering anxiety. So some people are definitely their own prisons through no fault of their own. > [@Machinaforce](#): > > We’re all our own prisons, we are each all our own wardens and we do our own time. I can’t judge anyone else. _Judges everyone_ “I can’t judge anyone” Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/22 "2017-04-27T23:41:04Z")
If your glass is half-empty, then, yeah, maybe life is a prison. There are places I can’t go, people I can’t meet, things I can’t do. If your glass if half-full, then life is remarkably free, especially for citizens of the richer nations. There are a hell of a lot of places I can go, thousands of people I get to meet, and amazing things I get to do. (Then there’s the guys who say, “Somebody stole my glass.”) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/23 "2017-04-27T23:50:53Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > If anything, I think the OP is saying the opposite. “Charles Manson said it, so you probably just want to disregard it altogether”. No, I want to disregard it because it was quoted by **Machinaforce**. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/24 "2017-04-27T23:53:37Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > If your glass is half-empty, then, yeah, maybe life is a prison. There are places I can’t go, people I can’t meet, things I can’t do. > > If your glass if half-full, then life is remarkably free, especially for citizens of the richer nations. There are a hell of a lot of places I can go, thousands of people I get to meet, and amazing things I get to do. > > (Then there’s the guys who say, “Somebody stole my glass.”) Some would even say that freedom is a prison and prison is freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/25 "2017-04-28T00:18:56Z")
nm. Too stupid ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/26 "2017-04-28T00:47:43Z")
Maybe you should quit using Charles Manson as a source – dude’s crazier than a shithouse rat and one evil son of a bitch. The day he dies I’m popping open a bottle of champagne. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/27 "2017-04-28T00:51:50Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > nm. Too stupid Too stupid for _this_ thread? > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Maybe you should quit using Charles Manson as a source – dude’s crazier than a shithouse rat and one evil son of a bitch. The day he dies I’m popping open a bottle of champagne. But considering the OP’s track record here on the Dope, Manson should be his patron saint. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/28 "2017-04-28T00:56:18Z")
So, you’re the author of that Seer of Forbidden Truth blog, arent you. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/29 "2017-04-28T01:09:44Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Some would even say that freedom is a prison and prison is freedom. > [@](#): > > Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know. – Groucho Marx ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/30 "2017-04-28T01:26:18Z")
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=false&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F174718052&show_artwork=true ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/31 "2017-04-28T01:26:45Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I think the terms prison and freedom are largely open to personal interpretation I work in a prison. The vast majority of inmates there agree they are in a prison and that they lack freedom. This overwhelming unanimity of opinion amidst this quite diverse population leads me to conclude that the “personal interpretation” aspect of defining those terms is much less significant than the general interpretation of what those terms mean. I also posit that those who hold the opinion noted in the quote above are people who have not served time in prison, and not had very specific constraints imposed on their freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/32 "2017-04-28T01:27:33Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > So, you’re the author of that Seer of Forbidden Truth blog, arent you. Dear god no. I’m not crazy, but the ad hominem fallacy is giving me issues with combating what is written on there. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/33 "2017-04-28T01:29:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Maybe you should quit using Charles Manson as a source – dude’s crazier than a shithouse rat and one evil son of a bitch. The day he dies I’m popping open a bottle of champagne. But isn’t it a logical fallacy to just dismiss someone because they are crazy? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/34 "2017-04-28T01:42:57Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > We’re all our own prisons, we are each all our own wardens and we do our own time. I can’t judge anyone else. What other people do is not really my affair unless they approach me with it. Prison’s in your mind. Can’t you see I’m free? No, prison is something which is taking away your freedom to do things. It can’t be self-imposed. If you deny yourself permission to do something than it shows you didn’t really want to do it. If you had really wanted to do it then you wouldn’t have accepting the self-denial. You can choose to do something or you can choose not to; but either way you made the choice. As for the idea that you can be free inside a prison, it’s possible. Suppose all you want out of life is a roof over your head and regular meals; prison will provide you with that. If that’s your personal definition of freedom then you’re free. But that’s the opposite of saying the prison exists in your mind. In such a case, it’s freedom that’s in your mind. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/35 "2017-04-28T01:45:47Z")
Ugh. How many more thousands of times do you need to hear us tell you that you should dismiss him because he is demonstrably wrong? Crazy is just a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Fredescu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/73ab20/32.png) [@Fredescu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredescu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/36 "2017-04-28T02:09:02Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > But isn’t it a logical fallacy to just dismiss someone because they are crazy? Have you tried focusing your ability to point out logical errors on the guy with no physical freedom who is claiming to be free? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/37 "2017-04-28T02:18:34Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Dear god no. I’m not crazy, but the ad hominem fallacy is giving me issues with combating what is written on there. > [@Machinaforce](#): > > But isn’t it a logical fallacy to just dismiss someone because they are crazy? Well, it depends. If Charles Manson said “the sky is blue”, no I’m not going to dismiss him. If he starts going on about Helter Skelter and race wars and the Beatles and how he’s God, then yeah, I’m going to dismiss him. He’s also one of the worst serial killers in U.S. history, and has never repented of it. He seems proud of his work. That alone should count for something. (Dude, how many more of these threads are you going to write? I get the impression that you have this need to sound deep, but it’s really just a lot of jibberish) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/38 "2017-04-28T02:31:05Z")
“We are all just prisoners here, of our own device.” A bit of advice from an old guy. Don’t study philosophy from the Eagles, or Charles Manson. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/39 "2017-04-28T02:51:38Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I can’t see that at all. > > I am currently at a job I enjoy, doing something worth doing, and making a more than comfortable living. When I am done for today, I am going to drive to the gym to work out. When I get there, the person behind the desk will smile at me and greet me by name. When I am done, I will go to the house I bought, and there is a beautiful woman there who loves me and who I love, and she will smile at me when I kiss her. Then I will take the dog for a walk, and we will walk wherever we want and I will listen to great literature and smoke a cigar. And then I will go home and sit down by that same woman and have beer and pizza, and watch whatever we want on TV for a while, and then go to bed on clean sheets, in a comfortable room. And that same woman is going to be there. “They’re prisons! Man made prisons! You’re doing time. You get up in the morning. She’s there. You go to sleep at night. She’s there. It’s like you gotta ask permission to use the bathroom. Is it all right if I use the bathroom now? Yeah, and you can forget about watching TV while you’re eating. Oh, yeah. You know why? Because it’s dinner time. And you know what you do at dinner? You talk about your day. How was your day today? Did you have a good day today or a bad day today? Well, what kind of day was it? Well, I don’t know. How about you? How was your day? It’s sad , Jerry! It’s a sad state of affairs!!” -Kramer ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/40 "2017-04-28T03:05:34Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > (Dude, how many more of these threads are you going to write? I get the impression that you have this need to sound deep, but it’s really just a lot of jibberish) QFT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388.md?page=3)