Do you believe in fate?

I used to believe that I was destined for many things. I used to believe that any given guy I had the hots for was destined for ME.

I used to believe in astrology and horoscopes and tea leaves and signs.

I now believe in gut instinct (except if that gut belongs to Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, heh heh).

I now believe that if I don't take whatever bull comes before me by its horns, and make that bull treat me honestly and with good will, he's a fucked mother fucker of a bull. And I will make my own way, thank you.

Ahnimus wrote:

I used to think, like Bu, that destiny/fate was the talk of astrologers and mystics. But, short answer is, Yes I do believe in fate. How can one not without incorporating a skyhook into their beliefs?

A skyhook as coined by Daniel Dennett, is something with basically no foundation. Religion is a skyhook, because it supposes a creator with no cause, causelessness. If all things have a cause, and no skyhooks, then fate must be true.

Fate/Destiny follows from physics and the law of conservation of mass-energy. All science supports the notion of fate, in that, the contrary Free-Will, which is required to circumvent fate, has no scientific basis, nor will it ever, because it's an unquantifiable, contra-causal, thing, as it's claimed by it's definition.

Here are some good wikis to get the mind going on this question of fate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will

....Fate/Destiny following from physics.....it's random, hon. Physics is random.

It doesn't follow one given person on this earth and say, "I'm gonna let this idiot win the lottery, he's such a poor sot after all."

Fate/Destiny, to me, now, are nothing more than the obvious, not the hoped for.

Fate/Destiny tells me that nuts will fall from the tree in my backyard and keep squirrels coming and going, and eventually maybe make another tree.

Fate/Destiny for dreamers tells them that squirrels were meant to gather in their backyard because they are animal lovers and the squirrels know where a loving soul resides. If the tree grows, the dreamers will feel even more rewarded.

Fate/Destiny/Kismet even, tells us all that we are destined to die, and our planet will too.

I've given up the hope that people meet each other through fate. I have learned it's our destiny to propel ourselves towards an end.

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

I think you mean fate loosely speaking right? as in the physical sense....hell I suppose it's all physical for the most part essentially.

Which gets me thinking. Can the very act of individual thought, at any given point in time, be unique and/or extraordinary? Or is it just perceived that way? The "energy" of thought so to speak, does it all ultimately abide by (unwavering) rules?

How much of it, if any, is "analogue" (v.s. digital) so to speak and without the confines of it's container.

That to me is what free will entails in a nutshell..

Kinda like putting a patent on thought.

is nothing more than what we think it is.

When you bring home a new chair, do you think to yourself, "I hope my cat doesn't claw the shit out of this new chair", only to find your cat claws the shit out of it?

You think of it as a new chair. Your cat thinks of it as a new scratching post (unless, of course, you have an automatic spray bottle and videocam handy).

Do cats not think? Of course they do. I could susbstitute a new rug and a dog, and the thought is the same.

We all think. Even animals think (and I'll set a killer mouse upon any person in this Pit who thinks likewise).

I believe this universe has intelligence to it. No two snowflakes alike, no two fingerprints alike...it's intricate and beautiful and miraculous.

But what is so wrong with leaving it at that, and trying to preserve what we have here, rather than study it and rape it for it's all worth?

Fate/Destiny tell me we have two paths: Preserve and love this earth, for all its worth, or rape and hinder it, to our own detriment.

Yes

yes

deadnothingbetter wrote:

i believe in God, but i don't believe in fate.

i don't believe that God decided that today my balls would itch, or that i will have gas problems. neither do i believe that God intends for someone to become stars, millionaires, and others to be poor miserable little indonesians to get swallowed out by a tsunami, or hurricane.

i believe everything happens by chance. i do believe, however, that God (if there is one) can intervene in anyones life at anytime... but depending which god you believe in, mine is a gentle a courteous one who allows you to make decisions on your own.

very wishy-washy Willy Wonka.

Gene Wilder.

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

I think because of the sheer fact that nobody ever has ever been able to choose their time and circumstance of birth (of existence)...we are all aligned to a pre-determined pattern that we cannot remove ourselves from.

It so far above us, as to not be perceived directly moment to moment...however it governs us ultimately. Some call it god in a primitive attempt to explain it.

I agree with Ahnimus. I Finally I see it. We cannot supercede the container of the walls of our physical realm.

pretty trippy thought process...

It's loosely coupled from our immediate perception so to speak (and thank god! (figuratively speaking) or we would go promptly insane) but it's definitely there....looming....never faltering. Universally setting the precedence which trickles down. It actually confirms some of my universal theories of existence 100%.

anyhow...my 2c

does it change me? .... well a little...not a whole lot though. But yeah.

cool...

no one chose my existence... i was a pure accident.

my dad cheated on his wife and that's how i was born.

is their a reason why i was born? yeah, cause my dad screwed up, literally