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Do You Believe in Fate?

Justac00lguy

BooBoo
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Shewhale
So this is a simple thread...

Do you believe in fate? Now I think this a pretty weird subject and I know a lot of contrasting opinions on the so called idea of "fate". Here's a brief definition 'The development of events outside a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power'

Do you actually believe that something's are preplanned in our lives, do you think this is the work of a supernatural or greater force or...Do you think that the idea of "fate" is ridiculous? Tell me your thoughts and have fun guys :)
 

octorok74

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Nope, not in the least. Fate is one of those things were I never see it as possible. Sure, some things may seem like it was fate, but really some things just happen for no particular reason. But I don't believe in it, it seems silly to me.
 

CynicalSquid

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I don't believe in faith. You make your own decisions and nothing is set in stone. It's not like everything that happens in your life just falls out of the sky. There is a cause and effect to everything.
 

PalaeoJoe

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The only "fate" that we know will happen is death, but there are things that will happen to us and you could call what is coming a fate. Fate could also be a word used for result. It could be said that it was the fate of the dinosaurs to face an asteroid since the asteroid was on a collision course with earth thousands or millions of years before it hit the planet, and other big things out of our control like the inevitability that the sun will implode and destroy some of the planets in a few billion years could be called fate. Fate is more of a metaphor for the inevitable than an actual thing and is not supernatural.
 
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Joined
Dec 21, 2011
To put it simply, no.

Anything that seems like fate are simply a series of coincidences that can certainly be explained through rational reasoning. The idea of fate seems weak to me; you make your own decisions and anything that goes poorly in your life -- or anything that goes well -- is almost certainly the result of your own actions, not some supernatural, predestined force.
 

Ventus

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Well, until we get time travel, I'm gonna say I do believe in fate. We can control our actions here and now, but every second is lost to us until time travel is possible. Thus, there ARE things that (eventually) come out of our control.

I mean, tell me that we can control how a person is born and 100% make sure that person has the best traits? We can't! Even the most prestigious scientists eff up from time to time. There has to be something controlling births and deaths, and the seemingly random values associated with it all. Something, y'know, outside of our control.
 

bunny

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Well, I'm a Christian, so yea, of course I do. I believe that God planned out my life long before I ever existed. I know that kind of sounds like no freedom, but to be honest, it gives me incredible peace. I believe that everything in my life is part of God's plan, and that there's some meaning to everything that happens in me and around me. That's incredibly precious to me, and I don't know what I'd do without that promise of peace...

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11

don't hurt me
 

Justac00lguy

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Hmm interesting opinions here xD

Personally I used to think the whole idea of "fate" was completely an illusions based on people's beliefs but I think as I've got older I have come to open up to new ways of thinking and a lot of things have happened in my life some good and some bad! But I do think that everything happens for a reason...whether that's believing fully in fate I don't know but I am certainly not going to shoot down the idea as I used to :)
 

Doc

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I find "fate" as just some ridiculous idea. I mean, I don't want to go stomping on other's beliefs here, but I don't see how our lives had been planned out. And that would completely cause the opposite of Christianity's idea of free will. People are not meant to suffer and people are not meant to live happily. It all depends on the choices we make, I believe. There is no grand scheme of things.
 
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I think, maybe, to a certain extent. I don't think that everything in the universe is pre-planned, but rather, I think that there's a balance between fate and choice. As in, stuff that's going to happen is going to happen, but choices you make can affect the outcomes, and maybe certain people/souls are tied to each other. If that makes any sense.

I never thought in a million years I'd end up knowing someone that I do know, and how we met is, well, kind of weird. I just felt this instant, powerful connection, and it kept nagging at me. It was like I just knew, somehow, that if I didn't contact him, I'd feel lost, like a part of my life was going to leave me. I took a chance, and he's one of my very best friends. It's weird, because I always thought "love at first sight" as kind of a stupid concept, but that's how it worked for me. Whether we end up together in that way or not, I know that he just has to be in my life. It definitely feels like there's something pulling us to each other, despite how different we are.
 

misskitten

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Not sure if I believe in fate or not.

But whenever I look back on my life, on times when I've felt lost, like I was taking a detour of some kind, I have seen why that particular road had to be taken, and what I wouldn't have in my life now if things had been different. So experience has taught me that my life had to be lived the way it was, simply because if not, then there would be things missing that I don't want to see myself living without (if that makes sense). I can't say I believe it's fate, just that I understand how it all fits together.
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Well, until we get time travel, I'm gonna say I do believe in fate. We can control our actions here and now, but every second is lost to us until time travel is possible. Thus, there ARE things that (eventually) come out of our control.

Could you elaborate on this? I don't get how time travel plays in to all of this.

Ventus said:
I mean, tell me that we can control how a person is born and 100% make sure that person has the best traits? We can't! Even the most prestigious scientists eff up from time to time. There has to be something controlling births and deaths, and the seemingly random values associated with it all. Something, y'know, outside of our control.

There are things called designer babies; however that's mostly for the aesthetics of the child (hair color, eye color, etc.). So geneticists can't ensure that all babies are going to be free from genetic-based illnesses, or have optimal traits... yet. However, I'm confident that with more extensive research geneticists will be able to achieve this scientific marvel (by the way, I suggest watching the movie Gattaca, a great film that pictures a world where what I'm discussing is available to your average soon-to-be parents).

In terms of how we can't control the out-come of babies now, that all has to do with the study of Genetics and how traits are passed down through your offspring; not some predestined, supernatural force.

I think I'll stop posting from here, I don't want this to become a heated God vs. science debate (we all know how those turn out lol) :)
 

Sir Quaffler

May we meet again
Oh, absolutely. I also believe in free will.

I think that there are certain things that will happen in this world that will inevitably happen, with nothing anybody can do to stop it. I also think that God has a plan for each and every one of us, and while He does His best to steer us onto this path He ultimately leaves the decision to follow Him on that path up to us.

So, I believe we each have our own fates (or destinies, or whatever term you want to choose) planned out for us, and that we have the free volition to accept or reject this plan.
 

Terminus

If I was a wizard this wouldn't be happening to me
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I believe
calvin-hobbes-fate.jpg

sums it up quite nicely.

In short, no.
 

Garo

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I believe in confirmation bias and apophenia, the tendency of humans to see patterns where none exist. I believe that, if I may be excused for desecrating Einstein, God plays dice with the universe. I believe, as Heisenberg has demonstrated and as thousands upon thousands of physicists worldwide procure further evidence to support, that the universe is inherently probabilistic rather than deterministic. And I believe that humans erroneously interpret the occurrence of ostensibly improbable events as "fate", or some kind of grand machination.

Humans have free will, but are still limited by their own capacities. A given human will have considerable talent in some fields, but virtually none in others. For each of these given humans there is a "fit" for them in society, as that's the way that society - ANY society, not just human society - functions. Every person must do the part best suited to them. Some might interpret the process of being drawn to one's niche through exploration of their talents as fate, but I think it's simply animal instinct at work. We all know instinctively what we are best suited to do, and our mind will subconsciously push us in that direction. That's not fate as much as biology.

To reduce this down to the simplest terms: no, I do not believe in fate. I believe in probability and randomness being misinterpreted as design.
 

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