Chapter 1,071 Freedom of Choice

After teasing everyone, Lin drank the tea in one gulp. He held the cup in front of everyone and asked, "What is this? Can anyone answer me?"

Although it was an obviously stupid question, the children still seemed to enjoy it and enthusiastically raised their hands to answer: "That's a mug." "It's a cup." "It's a big teacup."...

The thick wall of the cup and the design with cup lugs for holding are exactly the kind of cups that could be seen everywhere before Lin traveled through the world - mugs. This thing was quite popular as soon as it was launched because it was cheap to make - it was made of clay -, it would not burn your hands when holding hot drinks, and it could be produced industrially, so it was cheap.

There are many answers that can be used to refer to something in someone's hand. However, Lin objected, and at the same time he threw the cup on the ground and broke it into pieces, saying, "No, this is not a cup, it's just broken into pieces."

Looking at the stunned people, Lin looked proud, pointed to the fragments on the ground and asked, "What is this? Can anyone answer it?"

This time he was not as enthusiastic as before. Only a few children who were not very confident said cautiously: "Is this a fragment?" "A fragment of a teacup?"...

"No!" With another sonorous and powerful veto, Lin cast a spell and crushed the fragments on the ground into ashes, saying, "This is just dust, there are no fragments."

Unlike other children who were scrambling to express themselves, Ezio said at this time: "Sir, according to your approach, we will never be able to answer the correct answer."

"Oh, that's right. You understand the meaning of the first half of my sentence." Lin praised.

"Nothing...is it true?"

"In your eyes, what is true?" Lin asked, scanning the various expressions of the crowd. He continued: "In my understanding, the so-called 'truth' should be something that is eternal and unchanging. No matter when and from what standpoint or angle you observe it, it will remain unchanged. But this Is there such a thing in the world? The reason why a cup is a cup is because we have shaped it into such a shape and given it a function, so that it can be called a cup. But whether we destroy its shape or abandon its function, the cup is always there. It may no longer be called a cup."

Regardless of whether they understood or not, whether they were adults or children, they all looked at the remains of the cup that had been crushed to dust by magic and thought seriously. Lin continued:

"Is there anything around you that is not like this? Let's not talk about these physical things, let's talk about the relationship between us. I provide you with food and accommodation in exchange for you serving me for ten years in the future. This It was something that was agreed upon when you got my protection. But will this thing never change? Maybe one day I wake up, my toes touch the bed cabinet, and my hair is split. I'm choking on my breath. In short, my mood has become bad. Maybe I will just decide that I don't care about the services you can provide in the future, so I overturn the previous agreement and drive you all back to the street. You have the ability to stop it. Or change this? Maybe, maybe not.”

There are those timid children. Although they heard that there was not much seriousness in the words, some of these children still asked: "Sir, do you want to abandon us? I can do a lot of things. If ten years is not enough, I I am also willing to extend the time.”

"You think too much, kid. I'm just saying a possibility. But, this is the second half of what I want to say - everything is possible. The cup is in my hands, I can choose to hold it well and let It can function as a cup. It can also be dropped to the ground, making the cup no longer a cup. I will take you in. In the future, I may send you to do things that will lead to your death, or I may not care about you at all and let you just snore like this. Of course, I can drive you away now, but I will have no one to use in the future. There is nothing that can limit what I can’t do. At best, things will be different after I make a choice. Result. This result may be good or bad. But at the moment when I make a choice, I am free without any restrictions. The same is true for you. With this freedom, no one can take it away."

"But we are restricted by you. We can't do this, and we can't do that. Isn't that the case?" Ezio said dissatisfied.

"No, that's not a restriction. It's just that you have the right to choose freely, and I certainly have the same right. When you make a decision, I will also make corresponding choices based on your decision. If it is Of course, if something makes me unhappy, I will make you as unhappy as me; if it has nothing to do with me, I won’t meddle in it. All of this is not about who restricts who. It’s about anyone’s free choice. It affects other people's choices and causes different consequences. Whether you are willing to swallow such consequences is the reason that restricts your choice."

Lin finished explaining once, but looking at the children's still confused expressions, he thought for a while and could only continue: "It's like playing chess. I make a move hoping to take one of the opponent's moves. But the opponent will definitely do the same." There are corresponding means, instead of letting me capture the chess pieces. It is impossible to expect that the opponent is an idiot and allows me to advance step by step and capture one piece after another. Therefore, the half sentence of "everything is possible" does not mean It not only illustrates the freedom that one has, but also includes the freedom of others to choose. And the development of things is not exactly as one imagined, because 'nothing is true'."

"What about kindness, sir." The boy's head, Rowan, raised his hands and asked, "Doesn't kindness belong to truth?"

"When you see an eagle hunting a rabbit and you save the rabbit, do you think that is kindness?" Lin asked.

"Yes, of course. We saved the rabbit's life, isn't it considered kind?"

"But the eagle will starve to death because there are no rabbits to eat. You showed so-called kindness. While saving a rabbit, you also killed the eagle. Is this still considered kind? Or is it? Say, the eagle should die and the rabbit should be saved?"

After thinking for a while, Rowan said: "While saving the rabbit, we can feed the meat to the eagle. In this way, we will save two lives."

"Where did the meat come from? Which animal did you kill and take its meat to feed the eagles?" Lin continued to ask.

This time, Luo Wen was stunned. However, looking at the other children, some of them had sly looks, and they were probably coming up with something wrong. Lin didn't intend to argue with them, and said directly: "There is no kindness without cost, and there is no evil without reason. What I tell you is beyond kindness and evil, and it is also the reason why humans are different from beasts. The most important thing - thinking. Because nothing is true and all actions are possible, you need to live with caution and fear. Every choice you make should be as if you are walking on thin ice and make your choice carefully. Because you Every action you take will be transformed into a result and fed back to you. The difference is, is that what you want? If not, how can you change it?"