"It's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it that makes the difference." - W. Mitchell
As I'm sure you can tell, this is an entry dealing with fate, destiny and karma. For the most part, I don't believe in any of it, but every once in a while I am forced to re-evaluate my thoughts. This stems from a conversation Obi and I had concerning the illusion of free-will. To paraphrase the thought process, all of our actions are determined by how we react to environmental factors based on past experience and learned knowledge, therefore all actions are pre-determined, thus free-will does not exist. Fate and destiny do exist, but rather than being pre-determined by some supreme being, it is laid out for us by our subconscious. There was a study done at a university that suggests our subconscious does all of our deciding for us. Since the subconscious is reactionary, it dictates that all actions are nothing more than reactions based on past learned knowledge. Blech. In English now. Every decision we make is nothing more than a yes/no decision based on what we've already done. That was easier. By this thought process fate and destiny do exist and free-will does not. Strange how even though I can sum it all up in a nice little package, I also feel almost entirely opposite to the last paragraph. Let's tackle some of these ideas one at a time shall we?
First off, let's go for free-will. I think the idea at the core of this one is hope. I'd like to think that we have free-will, but I don't know if that is just a comfort thought or not. I hate to think that we are nothing more than a walking yes/no evaluation machine, but all science is pointing this way. I think it's more illusion than anything that I do believe in free-will, but it's my illusion damnit. To think that we don't have any free-will really bugs the shit out of me. The thought of everything being predetermined seems way to pigeon-holing, and I guess this is already starting to lead down the path to fate and destiny. They are pretty much in the same suburb anyways. I just like to break them up. It's that free-will thing.
I don't believe in fate and/or destiny, but the thing that always shakes me up about this one is when something that happens seems way too convenient to have just happened by coincidence. Everyone knows what I am talking about here. Deny it all you want but we've all been there when something happens that makes you think it happened for a reason besides coincidence. Maybe you found something that you have been looking for for years, and it turns out it was in the shop around the corner, or you meet that person and it feels like you've known them forever, even though it's only been weeks, or anything else that falls into this vein. We've all had it happen, and, as cool as it is that it feels like all the good things that happen to us have been laid out for us to discover at our lowest points, the flipside is all those really, really shitty things that we've gone through were pre-determined as well. How shitty does that feel? Now it's nicer to realize that fate and destiny don't exist doesn't it?
Karma is an awesome idea in itself, and the point is there, the problem I have with it is that the ideal of being rewarded for being nice or good annoys me. I'm the type of person who will be nice, because I feel like it, not because I am expecting something nice in return. That's not to say all of my actions have been selfless, many have not been, but many actions have been just because. I don't always have a reason for doing some of the things that I do other than I feel like it. Lucky for most of the people that know me, my evil streak isn't very prevalent these days.
In the end I suppose it doesn't really matter. I think the important thing is to have fun while your here. Doesn't matter if it's pre-determined or not. Just try to look surprised. That's the really important bit. Rather than absurdism's I think I may do the quote thing for a while. There is another great one by Douglas Adams that I'm going to use here. I know, repeating myself, but it really does fit this time. I'll pick a different author next time. Promise.
"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
>>>>>>>
If this kind of stuff interests you, do a google for "Mark Twain" and "What is Man?". Very interesting take on free-will. It's easily found all over the web and a fairly light read.
>>>>>>>
As I'm sure you can tell, this is an entry dealing with fate, destiny and karma. For the most part, I don't believe in any of it, but every once in a while I am forced to re-evaluate my thoughts. This stems from a conversation Obi and I had concerning the illusion of free-will. To paraphrase the thought process, all of our actions are determined by how we react to environmental factors based on past experience and learned knowledge, therefore all actions are pre-determined, thus free-will does not exist. Fate and destiny do exist, but rather than being pre-determined by some supreme being, it is laid out for us by our subconscious. There was a study done at a university that suggests our subconscious does all of our deciding for us. Since the subconscious is reactionary, it dictates that all actions are nothing more than reactions based on past learned knowledge. Blech. In English now. Every decision we make is nothing more than a yes/no decision based on what we've already done. That was easier. By this thought process fate and destiny do exist and free-will does not. Strange how even though I can sum it all up in a nice little package, I also feel almost entirely opposite to the last paragraph. Let's tackle some of these ideas one at a time shall we?
First off, let's go for free-will. I think the idea at the core of this one is hope. I'd like to think that we have free-will, but I don't know if that is just a comfort thought or not. I hate to think that we are nothing more than a walking yes/no evaluation machine, but all science is pointing this way. I think it's more illusion than anything that I do believe in free-will, but it's my illusion damnit. To think that we don't have any free-will really bugs the shit out of me. The thought of everything being predetermined seems way to pigeon-holing, and I guess this is already starting to lead down the path to fate and destiny. They are pretty much in the same suburb anyways. I just like to break them up. It's that free-will thing.
I don't believe in fate and/or destiny, but the thing that always shakes me up about this one is when something that happens seems way too convenient to have just happened by coincidence. Everyone knows what I am talking about here. Deny it all you want but we've all been there when something happens that makes you think it happened for a reason besides coincidence. Maybe you found something that you have been looking for for years, and it turns out it was in the shop around the corner, or you meet that person and it feels like you've known them forever, even though it's only been weeks, or anything else that falls into this vein. We've all had it happen, and, as cool as it is that it feels like all the good things that happen to us have been laid out for us to discover at our lowest points, the flipside is all those really, really shitty things that we've gone through were pre-determined as well. How shitty does that feel? Now it's nicer to realize that fate and destiny don't exist doesn't it?
Karma is an awesome idea in itself, and the point is there, the problem I have with it is that the ideal of being rewarded for being nice or good annoys me. I'm the type of person who will be nice, because I feel like it, not because I am expecting something nice in return. That's not to say all of my actions have been selfless, many have not been, but many actions have been just because. I don't always have a reason for doing some of the things that I do other than I feel like it. Lucky for most of the people that know me, my evil streak isn't very prevalent these days.
In the end I suppose it doesn't really matter. I think the important thing is to have fun while your here. Doesn't matter if it's pre-determined or not. Just try to look surprised. That's the really important bit. Rather than absurdism's I think I may do the quote thing for a while. There is another great one by Douglas Adams that I'm going to use here. I know, repeating myself, but it really does fit this time. I'll pick a different author next time. Promise.
"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
>>>>>>>
If this kind of stuff interests you, do a google for "Mark Twain" and "What is Man?". Very interesting take on free-will. It's easily found all over the web and a fairly light read.
>>>>>>>
posted by Reverend Moloquin at 10:07 PM
1 Comments:
This is an interesting topic - and something I think of often. Personally - I believe that everything happens for a reason - and that is because time is linear and one thing happens after the thing before it - like dominos. It's unavoidable and the only thing you can really do is party.
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