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Do You Believe In Fate?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by RaeMoral, Mar 25, 2010.

  1. RaeMoral

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    I was just wondering if you all, believed in fate? - I personally do. Although the thought of everything be pre-planned kind of creeps me out.
     
  2. Black Cat

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    Sort of. I think we all have something in the cards for us, but if we try hard enough and believe then we can make whatever we want out of our lives.
     
  3. Just Adam

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    i believe theres a universal fate for all things, a pattern things follow, the world, the human race, but i also believe we can have a destiny and we can master our own,
     
  4. TheEdend

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    I don't really believe in fate. The idea of the out come being the same no matter the choice you make kind of creeps me out. It is a nice concept though, but I personally think that every decision you make changes the out come and that nothing is for certain.
     
  5. MusicIsLife

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    i believe more in destiny than fate.
     
  6. Zumbro

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    Not so much. I'm more of a chaos theory person myself. Things happen, and no matter what you do you never really know the outcome, so just go with the flow and see what happens.
     
  7. SaturdaySaviour

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    No. I refuse to believe that my life is predetermined.
     
  8. RaeofLite

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    I agree with this. You take things as they come, and roll with them. Some events or occurances may be bad, but what'll make you or break you in life is how you deal with them. If you have positive friends on your side then that can make a world of difference.
     
  9. Idunnohereitis

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    I dont know..not really sure. But there are some things that happen that make me thing.. "it mustve HAD to happen" like when you hear about somebody dying in such a strange way, i cant help but to think that it was suppposed to be that way if so many odds were challenged..... Fate is bitter. I believe that. But i think there are things that will happen regardless and ppl fall into place and can change with every choice they make. i dont believe everythings written from day 1.
     
  10. fragomatrick

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    I believe in karma! what goes around comes around!
     
  11. gaz83

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    yep. i believe that too. fate is kinda the same thing. hopefully mine includes someone else tho.
     
  12. canadian bear

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    i feel we make are own fate may it be for the good or the bad
     
  13. Nitro

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    I find no compelling reason to believe in fate. As for the idea of what goes around comes around, the term "slave morality" comes to mind.
     
  14. Owen

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    According to my roommate (whom I trust to give me accurate information), neuroscience has shown that, since all of our actions are the results of chemical impulses within our brain, our actions can be mapped out, and thus fate exists. I have issues with this theory, though. What if something unexpected come along, like an accident or a natural disaster? How can this theory be used to determine our fate when we can't see the future and know which situations we'll need to react to? That doesn't really address the question of whether a more theological kind of fate exists, but I don't give those kinds of ideas any credit anyways; to me, they're just comforting illusions for people who can't look at a random universe and accept it for what it is.

    Still, even if theological fate existed, what good would it do us to believe in it? If we simply resign ourselves to believe that all of the consequences of our actions are predetermined, what reason is there to act? If some of our efforts are doomed to fail from the beginning, why put forth any effort at all? If our other efforts are guaranteed to succeed, why work to get there? You may address that last question by saying we need to work to manifest our fate, but right there you acknowledge free will, since the individual has the choice of whether or not he wants to work to manifest his fate. Even if there is fate, we need to live as if we have free will if we want to manifest that fate. For that reason, I don't believe in fate.

    As for karma, I don't give that idea any credit either. Sure, it has its practical basis: if you hurt someone, they'll want to hurt you back, and if they don't end up hurting you, maybe their descendants will. But as for a divine karma, the idea that everything that goes around comes around, I also see that as an illusion, one that keeps people in line even when they see others acting unethically and succeeding more than they do. Religious ideas were all designed for practical reasons, and when you can trace them back to the events that likely created them, it's hard to give them any credence at all.
     
  15. adam88

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    Yes. But I also do Tarot readings, so I know better than most that fate is fluid and can be changed by will. :slight_smile:
     
  16. Ander Blue

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    heha, we just went over this in my philosophy course.
    Arguments for the existence of fate:
    1) as Gamer am I hit on, there's the idea everything in the world, even human action, can be explained in terms of a cause and effect. The cause and affect are governed by certain natural laws. Now, imagine being able to take everything into account at a specific point in time, every single initial condition. Also, taking all laws into effect, it's understandable that everything follows - the idea of one huge causal chain (no splits or breaks in the chain either.)
    2)Aristotle came up with a problem. Imagine two opposite future statements. (ei. you will go to the park today at noon, you will not go to the park today at noon). Only one is true. and according to logical law, what is true is true at any point in time. Now, imagine making an infinite number of these statements, and then you bunch up all the true ones into a bundle. Isn't that true one basically a definition of the universe, the way it was, is and shall be?

    Arguments against:
    1) let's talk mental substance. Assuming that mental substance exists and it has the ability to interact with physical substance - our whole causal chain theory sorta goes bonkers. It's assumed that mental substance don't really follow 'laws' so there isn't really a clear cut way to take into account what they will in fact do.
    2) The teleological argument says that humans cannot be explained by a normal causal chain. If you were to explain to someone why you drank a glass of water, you'd say you were thirsty. What you mean by this is that you felt thirsty, and you didn't want to feel thirsty so you took a drink in the hopes that your thirst would be quenched. Teleology suggests that what explains human action and behavior is desire, goals, purpose. We do things in order to try and bring something else about in the future. This as well doesn't fit the single large causal chain argument.
    3) finally, in regards to Aristotle's argument, one can say that the future is defined by our action. Sure it may be true that there is only one set of the truths as to how the universe is, but is our actions and behaviors which discerns which of those truths are real.


    Personally, I'm a free-willist and don't believe in fate
     
  17. padre411

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    Hey - I know I keep beating this drum but here is how St Augustine worked this out in the 4th century:

    Time is one of God's "creatures," an element of creation and existence. Eternity is not time going on forever. Eternity is the end of time itself and the end of existence. This is how I imagine the "big rip" that astronomers speak of.

    When we speak of God as omniscient and omnipotent, we are speaking of God outside of time, outside of existence. From there, God can see the whole.

    Within time, however, free will gets to run its course. Augustine understands evil as resulting from the will moving away from God. This can happen with spiritual beings (angels), human beings, perhaps even other elements of the natural order. For Augustine, ultimate evil, or hell, is the ultimate moving away from God. Since God is the source of being and existence, to be ultimately away from God is to cease existing.

    Peace,
     
  18. Lexington

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    Not in the slightest. I'm with my guy because we happened to play the same online video game at the same odd hour (3am). Had I not done that, I wouldn't be with him. Maybe my life would be worse, maybe it would be better. But I can say I'm extremely happy with the way it's gone. :slight_smile:

    Lex
     
  19. dukeguy06

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    I believe in destiny. Not fate.