--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We actually tried Free Will before. After…" description: "\"“We actually tried Free Will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire we stepped back to see how you'd do ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/361/philip-dick-101583_better-job_we-actually-tried-free-will-before-after_2616403.jpg" --- # We actually tried Free Will before. After taking you from… ![“We actually tried Free Will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire we stepped back to see how you'd do on your own. You gave us the Dark Ages for five centuries... until finally we decided we should come back in. The Chairman thought maybe we just…” quote by Philip Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/361/philip-dick-101583_better-job_we-actually-tried-free-will-before-after_2616403.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/361/philip-dick-101583_better-job_we-actually-tried-free-will-before-after_2616403.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/361/philip-dick-101583_better-job_we-actually-tried-free-will-before-after_2616403.jpg) > ““We actually tried Free Will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire we stepped back to see how you'd do on your own. You gave us the Dark Ages for five centuries... until finally we decided we should come back in. The Chairman thought maybe we just needed to do a better job of teaching you how to ride a bike before taking the training wheels off again. So we gave you the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution. For six hundred years we taught you to control your impulses with reason, then in 1910 we stepped back. Within fifty years, you'd brought us World War I, the Depression, Fascism, the Holocaust and capped it off by bringing the entire planet to the brink of destruction in the Cuban Missile Crisis. At that point a decision was taken to step back in again before you did something that even we couldn't fix. You don't have free will, David. You have the appearance of free will.” (Agent Thompson’s response to David Norris when asked “What ever happened to free will?”)”” [Philip Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-dick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity’s progress is guided, not free; societies intervene, shaping history through cycles of control and crisis. **In simple terms:** History is shaped by guided cycles. Key Takeaway Recognize external influences on choices. Themes history control free will society progress crisis Mood thoughtful critical philosophical Type Better job:1 Cuban missile crisis:1 Dark ages:1 Free:1 Freedom:1 Response:1 Science:1 Scientific revolution:1 Training wheels:1 World war:1 Response David:1 Norris Asked:1 Thompson Response:1 Chairman Thought:1 When to use this quote - policy analysis - historical study - ethical debates - future forecasting Key Concepts philosophical political technological Questions to Reflect On - What role does agency play in societal change? - How do interventions shape civilization? A Different Perspective Free will remains contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-job/) [Chairman Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chairman-thought-2072613/) [Cuban missile crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cuban-missile-crisis/) [Dark ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-ages/) [Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Norris Asked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norris-asked-2072611/) [Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/response/) [Response David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/response-david-2072610/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-revolution/) [Thompson Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thompson-response-2072612/) [Training wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training-wheels/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) ## Related quotes > [Most people give Kennedy a passing grade, a good grade on the Cuban Missile Crisis handling, but what they don't realize, if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-gohmert/most-people-give-kennedy-a-passing-grade-a-good-grade-on-the-cuban/) [Louie Gohmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-gohmert/) > [President Kennedy didn't negotiate out of the Cuban missile crisis simply because he and Khrushchev got along well. 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