So, when you think about the course of your life, when you think about the random events that have happened, the unlikely coincidences and fortunate happenstances...
Do you use words like "Destiny" and "Fate," or do you use words like "Chance" and "Coincidence". When you look back on the course of your life, how do you describe the twists, turns, and random loops it has taken?
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I guess I have a tendency to do both, but definitely more inclined to a "what a fortunate turn of events!" or "man, I'm glad I did that."
I think the only time I have really mused about something being perhaps meant to be and part of a plan made for me has been in the love department. but love makes you all muddled and musing anyhow -so naturally I think a person is more inclined to think about fate and destiny when in a romantic frame of mind.
It's poetry of life experience vs. a pragmatic outlook.
I seldom look at things as "Destiny" or as a predetermined outcome independent of what I or other people have done to affect it.
I don't know that I can point to anything in the course of my life and honestly call it "random." It just takes a little bit more looking to realize that as random as something may have seemed, there was a progression of events that led to it.
Granted, the leap from one event to another might not have been the most logical direction to go, but there's still something there.
I don't think life is "destined" nor do I think it is quite "random".
I think that we are born into this life not a blank slate but a slate of infinite chances. Yes you can be born predisposed to being autistic or even having the qualities to be a president but that's just predisposition.
I think you as a person and the people around you make choices that influence your life. You were never fated to graduate from Harvard but you and others made choices that got you there. Some roads may be easier to get you to your end point than others, but you still had a chance to go any where, so it feels a little random.
You and the others around you get you to where you are, you would have never ended up there automatically. Even not making a choice is making a choice.
I just think that some people underestimate the power "others" have on your life and call this influence "fate" or "destiny". But at the same time, never underestimate the power you have over yourself and your environment.
A very interesting question you have posed here. After giving it some thought I have begun to question the very concept of free will. Is it really possible to do or avoid something that was set into motion a long time ago? Think of a row of dominos. Once the first has been tripped aren't they all destined to fall; and if something interrupts the chain wasn't that event a part of its own predictable chain of "dominos". I guess what I'm saying is, if u had a computer powerful enough that it could contain every bit of information everywhere, wouldn't it be able to predict the next event in the chain? Is Shrodinger's cat destined to die regardless of whether someone is watching or not? The only possibility for unpredictability that I see is free will (if it truly exists). So now I just have to figure out if I'm writing this because I chose to, or if its because the string of events that led to this point in my life created an irresistable urge in me to express these ideas in these exact words.
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