When pondering new novel plots, particularly when those plots involve the exploration of free will, touring an aquarium is not only an excellent distraction, it pushes my thinking process ahead. Questions like do fish have free will or are they solely propelled through their lives by nature? pop up almost immediately. I sat and watched this school of Blue Runners for a while at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. They all go with the flow, all aligned and facing up-current, all at the same speed. No finning against the current here.
Just like us these Blue Runners seem to drift to through life the most efficient way. Or the most convenient way. Why bother going against the current? Why deviate from the rest? I can almost hear some of them whisper: “but it’s me who decides to go with the flow, it’s me who decides not to deviate.” And I wonder about the truth in that statement. Are we free to choose whatever we want, whichever direction to go? Are we indeed free to choose to drift along with the school, or to unshackle ourselves and swim against the tide?
Mina Witteman 