Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, September 26, 2016

Determinism

(H3) Determinism is the theory that acts of will, occurrences in nature, or phenomena are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws. I am not a pure determinist. I don't think we are predestined or fated to do certain things in our lives. I think we have the potential to do great things in our lives. I think that our choices have a ripple effect that influence other decisions, both ours and other people's choices. Sort of like the butterfly effect, in which a small change in one state of a system can result in large differences in a later state. However, I do not think that somewhere on a "cosmic timeline" one particular person is meant to do something at a certain time in a certain place. I think people use this as a justification for why things happen, usually bad things. Hurricanes and fires, droughts and famines, murder and death in general. People tell themselves, there was no way to stop or prevent these things, "it was fate". In some cases it is an excuse to relieve oneself of responsibility. Perhaps they do this because they need something to blame, the universe, other than their own actions. In some cases, it is a way for people to claim that the universe is looking out for them, such as finding someone's "soulmate". Perhaps they believe in fate because they are looking for a reason to exist, a greater purpose. If they are fated to do something than they have a reason to live, without this they are lost in a sea of confusion and questions. In the end, I believe we make our own lives what they are, so make it count. 

2 comments:

  1. My only difference to your thought, is that i do in some way think that each of us have our own destiny. I believe that destiny exists, but i also believe that we have a plethora of paths to complete this set destiny. We can choose any one of them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really feel like me and you see these things on similar terms. Do you feel like because of this free will that each person is hugely important or jusy the major waves after the small ripples? Do you believe that one mistake would ruin the total picture?

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.