~ I put this exact same thread in the GB and was curious what it would do here. Sorry for the repetition.
I have given this subject much thought. The concept of fate and or destiny as it pertains to our lives. I don't personally believe in fate, although I do harbor a slivered hope in its existence. To me, it seems very much like a "shortcut" in thinking if you embrace the notion of fate and or destiny.
If one looks at fate and the entirety of what it means if it is a reality, then everything may be explained but this explanation bypasses responsibility of actions both initiated and dismissed. It means a conscience which is given to a softened placation. The attraction of holding this belief up to the stars is obvious. It denotes a lessening of weighted guilt. Whether guilt is man made and or artificial, is a subject for a different discussion. But with fate and destiny, comes a rational explanation for any and all circumstances.
But if you cast down a belief of fate, does this then imply you hold completely to the faith of coincidence? And if coincidence proves to be the ruler of rationality, does this not flatten the world of possibility?
If you do not believe in fate and or destiny, does this not somehow ring truer the bell of personal choices and their effects on not only ourselves but others? The suggestion of cause and affect in correlation to personal choices and the responsibility of our actions, has the feel of a hard path to walk. Which of course reminds me ever of a line from a Robert Frost poem.
"And I chose the path less traveled."
This poem by Frost was not written to question fate but it is applicable.
Eleven times out of ten, the way which proves more difficult usually tends to be the right way, fate or no fate.
I find myself disgusted and holding contempt for most of humanity in the realm which is choice and freewill. Too many of us, and I am guilty of this as well, tend to slacken in the rumination of choice and its evolutionary affect as it ripples out from us. We make decisions every single day, both small and large which impact far more souls than those which reside in our immediate vicinity.
I shall illustrate my point with nothing more than a meager phrase. "A stone dropped in a pond"
If you subscribe to fate, does this not imply that there are no bad choices and outcomes from our decisions? Is fate nothing more than a fairy tale which helps us sleep at night.
But what of those moments in our lives when something just seems to fit together outside of rational explanation. As if it were simply meant to be? What of this?
As much as this does pain me to scribe, I think you either believe or do not believe in fate. There is not gray area here. It is either yes or no. For ideologies do not bend, at least not in light of the question at hand.
I have given this subject much thought. The concept of fate and or destiny as it pertains to our lives. I don't personally believe in fate, although I do harbor a slivered hope in its existence. To me, it seems very much like a "shortcut" in thinking if you embrace the notion of fate and or destiny.
If one looks at fate and the entirety of what it means if it is a reality, then everything may be explained but this explanation bypasses responsibility of actions both initiated and dismissed. It means a conscience which is given to a softened placation. The attraction of holding this belief up to the stars is obvious. It denotes a lessening of weighted guilt. Whether guilt is man made and or artificial, is a subject for a different discussion. But with fate and destiny, comes a rational explanation for any and all circumstances.
But if you cast down a belief of fate, does this then imply you hold completely to the faith of coincidence? And if coincidence proves to be the ruler of rationality, does this not flatten the world of possibility?
If you do not believe in fate and or destiny, does this not somehow ring truer the bell of personal choices and their effects on not only ourselves but others? The suggestion of cause and affect in correlation to personal choices and the responsibility of our actions, has the feel of a hard path to walk. Which of course reminds me ever of a line from a Robert Frost poem.
"And I chose the path less traveled."
This poem by Frost was not written to question fate but it is applicable.
Eleven times out of ten, the way which proves more difficult usually tends to be the right way, fate or no fate.
I find myself disgusted and holding contempt for most of humanity in the realm which is choice and freewill. Too many of us, and I am guilty of this as well, tend to slacken in the rumination of choice and its evolutionary affect as it ripples out from us. We make decisions every single day, both small and large which impact far more souls than those which reside in our immediate vicinity.
I shall illustrate my point with nothing more than a meager phrase. "A stone dropped in a pond"
If you subscribe to fate, does this not imply that there are no bad choices and outcomes from our decisions? Is fate nothing more than a fairy tale which helps us sleep at night.
But what of those moments in our lives when something just seems to fit together outside of rational explanation. As if it were simply meant to be? What of this?
As much as this does pain me to scribe, I think you either believe or do not believe in fate. There is not gray area here. It is either yes or no. For ideologies do not bend, at least not in light of the question at hand.
