Do you believe in fate?

Nala

I have mixed opinions as to whether fate exists or not. Sometimes something seems like it was "meant to be", like a friendship, and then turns out it was wrong.
I'm just wondering if you think fate exists or not.

Stephen

No.

AdMMM

No.

Although I predict that as I get old and grey, I'll go to church every morning at 9am, to make my life less boring!

Mossy Monk

not at all

Sleepy

Nope, it's just another device mankind have invented to try make ourselves feel better about life.

Lump

No

BEAT

yes.

Suaimhneach

Yup, to a certain degree.

Barbie_666

yeah!

Raphael

No, I hate the thought that I have no control over my own life, and that everything I do is predetermined. Even if someone proved its real, I'm gonna keep not believing in it, i just hate the idea

Guess thats my fate

Tusky

I think its a silly idea... certain people just get on like a house on fire , or are extremely attracetd to each other . The idea of fate or 'one true love' in my opinion is rediculous.

blondie83

Yeah of course, there are some things that just can't be explained otherwise.:)

JackKelly

yea....wait,actually no.

not really anyway. There is too much happening for there to be a governing "fate"


like what things can't be explained otherwise?

KlodaX

Fate as in everything happens for a reason?

Yes I most definitly believe in that. Its about the only thing I know for sure. I'm not sure what does it, or why ... not that I mind not knowing ... but I'd bet my life that its all interlinked and that what you do is interlinked with something in the future and so is for a reason.

ando

not sure

[CALIBUR]

No

Mystic Fibrosis

Hell no.

sound_wave

fate...hogswash...

BKtje

No

Zulu

I'm wondering how many women said "yes"?

Kobie

Nope!!!

What would be the point in living if you never really had any choice how things would turn out? Good things happen to bad people & bad things happen to good people (and vice versa). There's not reason for it. Like the wise bumper sticker once said:

Sh!t happens!!!

sceptre

Originally posted by neev
I have mixed opinions as to whether fate exists or not. Sometimes something seems like it was "meant to be", like a friendship, and then turns out it was wrong.
I'm just wondering if you think fate exists or not.

You sound as if you're a little more concerned with fated relationships than fate in general.

Answer's still no.

Do you think "luck" actually exists outside of a concept? That some people are naturally "lucky" while other people are "unlucky" by their very nature? of course not. OK, some people have had a good long string of good things to happen to them while some people experience the opposite but can you honestly think that there's some kind of design and pre-destination coming inro play here? I rather hope not.

monument

No.

Lickle Lover

Everything happens for a reason and we have no control over it. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad.

Of course Fate exists....and no matter how in control you think you are, we are governed by fate and what it has in store for us....

mad m

i say yes,

ok we might not have control over it or where it goes but it has happened to me once and have to say id do it all over again even now knowing what the out come was...nothing like that feeling......ah someone pass the tissues for god sake please!!!!! have mercy

sceptre

Originally posted by Lickle Lover
Everything happens for a reason and we have no control over it. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad.

Of course Fate exists....and no matter how in control you think you are, we are governed by fate and what it has in store for us....

In that case, why do we punish criminals (for example). They're pushed by an external force into doing things that they've no control over so why should they be punished?

I suppose you can answer with "fate makes us do it" but extra points if you've got anything else

Unpossible

Although I predict that as I get old and grey, I'll go to church every morning at 9am, to make my life less boring!

I think thats faith not fate

so why should they be punished?

Its their fate to be punished

Yes I bleive that fate has paths for us, sometimes the path is clear sometimes not. Fate helps things work out.

A strange view of life was told to me by my accupuncturist (sp), she said that life was a series of challenges which are there to help mold us, if we step away from the challenge or we don't complete it then it will continue to repeat itself on us (face your challenges type of thing)

Gurgle

I don't think there is any such thing as fate, in the sense of a force which makes us follow a certain pre-defined path in our lives.
On the other hand, many things in a persons life are inevitable, due to that persons nature, the people around him and how the universe works. This version of fate depends on free will because under a given set of circumstances, you will make the same set of decisions every time.

So free will isn't predefined by fate, its predefined by how you think.

ravenhead

Originally posted by Zulu
I'm wondering how many women said "yes"?

I'm a woman & I say HELL NO..... We make our own choices in life ......

Sleepy

There is no God.
There is no Allah.
There is no Jehovah.
There is no Luck.
There is no Fate.
There is no "one special person" for anyone.
There is no Magic.
There are no miracles.
Horoscopes are bull**** peddaled to the naieve.
There is no Handsome Prince, Fairy Godmother or Pot of Gold.

Accept the above and you take the first step towards happiness, or at the very least, sanity.

ixoy

Fate is a cheap way of trying to explain your circumstances. There isn't some bizarre form of predetermined pattern to life, some reason for everything happening because it's leading to some final goal. It, much like faith (which can share many of the same conceits), is just another security blanket that we wrap around ourselves to try and comfort us against the mind-numbingly large potential possible directions our lives may go. It's also often an excuse to encourage a particular form of behavior - you don't have to change your ideology, or actions because hey! fate has determined this is for you.

I think though that the most offensive thing about the concept of fate is that it includes, at some level, the principle of a locked mindset and that your actions, by and large, are of no consequence (which was one of the major themes of "The Matrix" for what it's worth). It seems almost defeatist, pandering to resignation. You could try and prove it almost scientifically, if you wished, by claiming that if you know the state and velocity of every particle in the universe at a particular point then you can predict all subsequent actions but that's pure theory that can be refuted with other theory....

Stark

There are probable futures, but the future is not immutable. Most of us are armed with enough to land on our feet on the vast majority of paths through life so this gives the impression of fate. For example if you're the kind of person who forms relationships easy with people, you might be always getting the impression - "the fates meant us to be together" etc.

monument

Originally posted by Sleepy
There is no God.
There is no Allah.
There is no Jehovah.
There is no Luck.
There is no Fate.
There is no "one special person" for anyone.
There is no Magic.
There are no miracles.
Horoscopes are bull**** peddaled to the naieve.
There is no Handsome Prince, Fairy Godmother or Pot of Gold.

Accept the above and you take the first step towards happiness, or at the very least, sanity.

If someone believes in any of the above, each is as much real to them as they are unreal to you.

Sleepy

monument, if anyone believe in them, it's just proof of a sub par IQ or a complete lack of common sense.

Nala

Originally posted by Sleepy
There is no "one special person" for anyone.

Horoscopes are bull**** peddaled to the naieve.

My mother could probably argue with the first one! She married her first boyfriend 24 years ago and they're still going strong.

Horoscopes are often bull, but I find tarot cards to often be scarily accurate.
I have my own pack and sometimes I ask the same question more than once and the cards that come up are usually nearly all the same, and I don't just pick the top few cards, I pick whichever ones I'm drawn to. I don't think I'm as good at them as my friend though, she's very accurate.

*However* tarot cards are not always right and I think there's a general rule with them in that you have to believe in them for them to someways work. I was very sceptical at first tbh.

By the way, I have an IQ of 130, so I'm in the top 2%.

Zulu

Originally posted by neev
My mother could probably argue with the first one! She married her first boyfriend 24 years ago and they're still going strong.

no offence - but shes unlikly to tell you otherwise. That being said - my parents are similar, but I feel i's got more to do with mutal respect, and their characters being compatiable.

Originally posted by neev
there's a general rule with them in that you have to believe in them for them to someways work.

And santa only comes if you believe in him too.

Stark

Remote viewing is a provable concept, even the military is using it. Basically we're all connected to a sort of "matrix" of information. A trickle of information enters our autonomous nervous system, then makes its way up through the subconcious then to the concious where unfortunately the conciousness imposes an "analytical overlay" upon the information, ie: tries to analyse it in a way it expects. Tarot cards help the mind focus on the task of identifying this information from the chuff. Remote viewing can also be taught without aids. Anyone can be taught it, you don't need to be "psychic".

Kobie

OK, for all you 'Yes' people:

If our lives are pre-ordaned, by who or what are they controlled, if not by ourselves? By God?

And why? (Desperately trying to sidestep Godwin's Law here but) Are all bad people just doing God's work? What's you explanation for fate?

monument

Originally posted by Sleepy
monument, if anyone believe in them, it's just proof of a sub par IQ or a complete lack of common sense.

As I was saying, just like Santa, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, each is as much real to who believes in such, as they are unreal to you.

Anyway, I don’t believe in fate because the man in the clouds controlling me has told my brain I shouldn’t believe in such.

Unpossible

Are all bad people just doing God's work?

You see this is a usual argument against fate, the problem is that you asume that fate (if it does exist) is working towards an ultimate good. It might not be, fate might decide that destruction and pain should dominate in the world. Then again maybe the "Bad people" are killing ones that would be worse.

There is no God.
There is no Allah.
There is no Jehovah.
There is no Luck.
There is no Fate.
There is no "one special person" for anyone.
There is no Magic.
There are no miracles.
.

But there is a santa right? right?:(

Kobie

the problem is that you asume that fate (if it does exist) is working towards an ultimate good. It might not be

OK, good point, but that's only assuming that they believe it's God who's in control. I just don't understand how the 'Yes' people accept that their lives are externally controlled but don't seem to give much thought or explanation as to who or what is controlling them. I'd be interested in any theories they may have.

But there is a santa right? right?

Yes Unpossible, of course there is. Now go back to bed.

Unpossible

God who's in control. I just don't understand how the 'Yes' people accept that their lives are externally controlled but don't seem to give much thought or explanation as to who or what is controlling them

I give it thought, but it depends on the persons beliefs, somepeople believe in a god controlling them. Personally the whole thing ties into my "is there a higher power/s" questions, I believe in fate or at least a pattern or path but I am unsure of who or what dictates that path. Bottom line I don't know who is pulling the strings (assuming fate exists), im still trying to figure out if there is a god or gods.

PS this doesn't rule my life its not like I walk around all day and say things like:
"It shall happen if the fates decide"

Yes Unpossible, of course there is

phew coz I was planning to head to lapland in a few weeks, would have been a wasted trip if he wasn't there

hedgetrimmer

IMO

Life is about choices, and patterns of choice made, and the ones wwe chose not to make, span before us and behind us like matrices of possibilities. At some level in our consciousness, I think, we can perceive where some of these patterns would potentially take us, and the difficulty arises in cutting through the complexity of trying to know what it is we really want, and what part of that desire is being informed by external stimulus, rather than internal self driven awareness.

People often say "it will happen if it is meant to be", but it will not happen without action, without choice. I think it is this subconscious awareness of the martix of possiblities to come based on ones options at a given time, a lattice-work that we cannot quite grasp in our conscious minds, that people call fate. A sense of what could come - a sense of cause and effect lurking tantalisingly on the outskirts of our quotidien awareness. The fact that it cannot be easily pigeon-holed in rational wakefullness may lend this sense the preternatural air that Fate or fate has.

My 2c

Raphael

Originally posted by Sleepy
There is no God.
There is no Allah.
There is no Jehovah.
There is no Luck.
There is no Fate.
There is no "one special person" for anyone.
There is no Magic.
There are no miracles.
Horoscopes are bull**** peddaled to the naieve.
There is no Handsome Prince, Fairy Godmother or Pot of Gold.

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
We are all part of the same compost heap.
We are gods unwanted children.
We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.



Sorry, couldnt resist

flogen

my (still un-certain) belief is this:

Generally, there is no fate. However, there are certain things in life that will happen, and that there is a certain path we will walk upon, but its up to us in how we follow it.
If you think about it, alot of things in your life are out of your control, or are limited by the actions of others. When you were younger, pretty much everything you did was a result of your parents. Where you lived, what you ate (mostly), what school you went to (and so what friends you made), if you were spoiled or not, etc etc. When we gain independence, it is natural for us to continue down a similar path to the one we've grown accustomed to. Not definitly, but quite possible. When we look for jobs, we might be beated to the perfect job, just because the interviewer didnt like the look of you, or the bus was late, or someone just as good as you had their interview first and was given the job there and then.

It goes on...:D
I dont believe in fate (the idea that one almighty power guides us all like sheep through lives, and whatever we do, were stuck with the same life). I do believe that we all have a path set at birth (a destiny, if you will) and its up to us to follow, or not follow that path, however it is almost always impossible for us to go too far off the path as there are external forces keeping us within a certain range.. i imagine that, metaphorically, all lifes paths are laid side by side, and if you walk too far off yours, you will begin to walk onto someone elses, you will interfere with their path, putting them off somewhat, but they will be blocking you from going too far.

I sound like one of those brainwashing cults....
Now everyone... send me €15 and I'll tell you what your path is.

Flogen