My experience suggests a combination. Short-term, I have some control, but long-term, it's mostly up to fate.
2006-06-27 21:34:22 · 15 answers · asked by fresh2 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
As a little boy, I remember my mom telling me and my brothers and sisters,"If you ever want to make God laugh,tell him what YOU have planned for your life. His plan might be a little different".
2006-06-28 15:52:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I look at it this way:
When I was starting the process of adopting my daughter, it was free will that made me decide at that point in time if, when, and how I would become a parent. It was free will that made me choose where to seek to adopt a child. Any one of those choices could have led to a different conclusion - to some extent.
But I think it was destiny that determined that I got to adopt at all (I could have been denied approval, the child could have been denied a visa, the gov't. could have shut down adoptions from India, etc.). It was destiny that this particular child found me and I found her. Finding her was so "random" that it couldn't have been random. It wasn't up to me or even the social worker to decide which child would come into my life. At any point in that process, I believe that fate/Divine will/whatever-you-call-it could have intervened and sent me a huge 'NO' if it wasn't meant to be.
I think that even if I'd adopted from China or Russia or the U.S., the same child would have come to my life, only in a different body and from a different culture. That's the part I think was destiny. This child's soul and mine were meant to be a family.
I agree with you - that it seems like a combination. I think you get signals - 'gut feelings,' 'random coincidences,' stuff that makes you think maybe now I should go with this choice or that - and you have the free will to go with it or not. But it's destiny or fate that sends you the signals, and can nix a choice you make, or affirm another.
2006-06-28 11:55:17 · answer #2 · answered by ABBMAMA 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a free will, but you are dependant of the context you life in. Imagine a tetris game. Any giving situation in tetris is a accumilation of a series of previous situations. WHile you can determine the outcome of the game, the way it will be played depends on how you racked all previous tetris cubicles.
Now the real question is: If a supercomputer could calculate all your moves untill the end of the game, would that still mean you have a free will ?
2006-06-28 04:58:40 · answer #3 · answered by aikidochess 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The choices we make create our destiny! Thier is no 'free will' in the christian sense of the word. How can one have free will if thier is an all knowing god that knows your choices before you make them? Our lives are NOT controlled by destiny but rather our destinies are controlled by the choices we make!
2006-06-28 05:15:12 · answer #4 · answered by I am DEATH 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think both. We each have a special purpose on the earth, something we were meant to do. It could be anything from running for political office to holding the door open for an old woman at some time. All things are connected: frm the greatest invention to the most seemingly inconsequential action.
Anyway.
After we accomplish our purpose on the earth, then free will kicks in.
2006-06-28 04:59:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our life is controlled by destiny. right from birth when we cannot decide our parents, race, caste, sex or place. No matter how hard we try we cannot achieve more than what is destined or before the time allotted for it. Paupers have turned to kings, and great empires have fallen, well sheer luck we can say.................touche!
2006-06-28 11:14:10 · answer #6 · answered by raindrops 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well either way I am still living a sad life, staying up in the middle of the night answering a question, I wonder if this is of my freewill, or maybe i was destined to write this. Hmmm
2006-06-28 04:43:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our destiny is to fail if we do nothing with our life. We have the free will and ability to make sure that doesn't happen.
2006-06-28 04:41:58 · answer #8 · answered by Dale P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have the free will to control your own destiny use it wisely
2006-06-28 04:41:00 · answer #9 · answered by ricksmail99504 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Much of our life is pre-destined because many factors such as race, culture, financial status, country of origin, etc are determined before we are born. I do believe in the Christian concept of "Free Will", and believe that God gives us a choice to improve our life by making good choices. We can strive to improve ourselves by education, and can practice honesty, etc.
2006-06-28 04:40:34 · answer #10 · answered by yellow dog 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps it is by our "free will' that we create and/or control our own destiny. If we are what we eat, why wouldn't we "be" what or how we think as well?
2006-06-28 04:42:06 · answer #11 · answered by Smokie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋