Do you believe in fate?

McGinty

Out of curiosity, do you beleive things happen for a reason / fate? Or do things just happen on a random basis?

mike65

Fate = pre-ordained = a plan = GOD.

As I'm an aethiest I guess that means I belive in the chaos theory...

Mike.

lordsippa

Dunno. It's nice to think that there might be some stuff that is destiny... especially when looking forward.

But there does sometimes seem to be a sense of drama to the universe... so maybe.

MiCr0

fate has always seemed to me as a way for people to blame stuff on anything else rather than themselves.........

Kell

Methinks that this exact topic was posted a few months back and what a debate that was. Personally, I think yes, we are subject to a fate outside of our own making and I am even coming around to the idea that there might be just a god out there watching our backs (mine at least).

K-

Nevyn

ah DO i flinch when Fates fickle finger is pointed at me ?

No Yes ok maybe sometimes.

I belive in Fate ( yes a captial F as in The Fates, aspects of the Goddess. )

you only want not to belive in Fate when it consipres to give you
the kick up the rear end you need and are happy with it when things work out well.

We do have free will and choose the path upon which we walk in this life ; but I beleive that certain things are ment to happen to us; even bad time for they prepare us for what is to come later.
Certain people we must meet even for a little while for they help shape us and our lives.

amp

Shit happens, rama dama ding dong.

But sometimes it's so complex and wierd that sometimes it looks like there's patterns to it.

WhiteWashMan

fate is for people who cant be arsed to do anything to change their own situation..


Fate put me here....

no, your lack of effort put you there.

uberwolf

you get what you work for, this so called it worked for the best notion-thats cos you worked with what you got

DeVore

If my life is someone/thing's "plan" or preordained to occur then all I can say is that they/it have one *fuked up* sense of humour.

DeV.

MiCr0

someone has been watching the matrix too many times............

Sposs

Take the blue pill and everything will be fine.

plastic membrane

Don't really believe in fate, but its an interesting notion. A benevolent figure pulling all our strings from up on high.

McGinty

Interesting comments, the reason I asked is because I like to think we have free will, in that we have the choice to shape our lives, I am a great believer in that you are responsible for your life and for your actions.

However, I have seen patterns / events in my life both good and bad and to me they seem like they were meant to happen, I can accept the bad stuff because in my experience they usually are blessings in disguise.

So I am at a crossroads, because if we are in charge of our own lives, then there cannot be fate. If things are pre-destined or meant to happen then our sense of free will is just an illusion and something else is pulling our strings.

simu

One of the features of the universe is a tendency towards increasing complexity but I think the manner in which this comes about is random.

Humans have a highly-developed ability to detect patterns but sometimes, this goes into overdrive and they imagine patterns where none exist/ create patterns by considering information selectively (often on a sub-conscious level), in my opinion.

Fate is an unprovable concept but even if you could prove it existed, it still seems meaningless because there is no way for us to know even remotely how this fate would make things turn out ... all you could say is that something good/bad /neutral/ <insert other adjective here> will happen, which is the same as saying there will be a day after today, then another day etc and I may still be alive then or not!

As for those who do believe in it and say that fate means that everything turns out OK in the end - it only takes a quick look at history books/newspapers to see this is not so!

I think most ppl who talk about fate don't take it too seriously or they don't apply it consistently. For example, if a married couple who love each other have a child, ppl say fate made this happen but they'd never say it if their teenage daughter became pregnant!

This dosen't really bother me though. Ppl also use the idea of fate to cope with bad situations and although I think it's illogical, it helps them to get through their problems so it seems to be a kind of survival mechanism.

What's scary though is ppl who take the idea of fate so seriously that they believe they are "chosen" to carry out acts of destruction or who refuse to intervene in situations where they could prevent something awful from happening because they believe "fate" cannot be challenged.

La_Gordy

I think Fate is something we over analysise to try and find purpose in what happens to us but i honestly don't believe in it.Stuff happens randomly but God i love randomness!

STaN

I believe both work in parallel. We do have control over our lives but there are somethings that are ment to happen or through a series of coincidences happen. Fate?

If something is ment to be, it will. But we can always do our hardest for it not to be that way.

My take on fate is that it is more positive than the reason some1 got killed or has a lowly job. The latter in my opinion being a result of the choices made in that individuals life.

Squall

I think i have the NEO "i make my own fate" philosophy

Everything depends on the choices we make and so we make our own fate

Zombrex

Fate is just a word we assign, after the fact, to good things that seem to come about by random.

Guy meets a lovely girl in a bar, falls in love gets married... thinks back ands says "well I missed my bus on Monday, which made me late for my job interview, which made me depressed so i went to the bar with friends to cheer up and met my wife ... it must have been fate"

In reality a thousand different things happened to the guy on Monday, that could have taken him down a thousand different paths ... you only notice the things that you are already looking for to show that it was fate in the first place. The guy was looking for events that brought him to his wife so they stood out, where in fact they are as random as any other event, he just doesn't consider the other events.

Just like most things spirital, fate is an invention of humanity to try to explain the random nature of the universe.

Caesar_Bojangle

In a sense yes.

Example of this was, i had a minor argument (entirely my fault)with a friend a few weeks back. But if it wasnt for this argument the event that ensued would have gone ahead anyway, without my presence and my friend would perhaps be dead.

He was on the piss and drank threefold that of what he'd normally drink, and decided to go swimming whilst barely able to stand urged on by some 'friends'. Anyway on my way home, i thought i saw someone in distress. blah blah blah the guy cant swim, i destroyed my trousers and rescued him.

Spenguin

Who says its a benevolent figure thats 'pulling our strings'? If fate does exist then it seems a little unfair that some people get stuck with crappy lives. I mean, its been decided what kind of person that person is, so while its their own laziness sometimes that makes them have bad lives, their laziness has already been decided by 'fate'. I don't believe fate exists. It would be boring if we could do nothing but follow the paths that have been decided for us.