Are we in control of our lives?

Question

Do our choices decide the paths are lives take? Or is there a pattern, with little or no room for deviation already in place?

Answer 1

Think of it this way. If there will be a sea battle tomorrow, and someone says "there will be a sea battle tomorrow" then that sentence is true, even before the sea battle occurs. But given that the sentence is true, the sea battle could not fail to take place. This argument can be rejected by denying that predictions about the future have to be true or false when they are made - ie, rejecting bivalence for sentences about the future. In other words, if there is a fork in the road, it can be said you will go left or you will go right. So;

1) There exist now propositions about everything that might happen in the future.

2) Every proposition is either true or else false.

3) If you accept statements 1) and 2), then there exists now a set of true propositions that, taken together, correctly predict everything that will happen in the future.

4) If there exists now a set of true propositions that, taken together, correctly predict everything that will happen in the future, then whatever will happen in the future is already unavoidable.

Everything happens because it is supposed to. When walking down a path and you come upon a fork in the road, you can say you used free will and decided to turn right. But reality says you turned right because you were supposed to turn right.

Answer 2

let me run a model by you - see what you think

the sphere of personal control extends to our very fingertips - think of the circle around the Renaissance man that Da Vinci did & imagine that a sphere.
Beyond that - everything works on a calculated predestinate groove - including the collision of other spheres of control with our own. Which means that to other people, places etc - we are part of a predestinate groove.

However - the interesting bit is that we dont see the future of what we do and therefore make the best choices we can dependent upon the situation at hand and the mood we are subsumed by.

picture the scene - ur hungry and want some fruit - u see the apple cart and the orange cart next to each other - theyre both juicy - u like them both - but ur not sure which u want and u onli have enuff 4 1. Eventually u make a choice - which is an impulsive one. That was in your control - but the carts and the rest of the world and the fact u took one fruit over the other - pre-desinate groove. the collision of the spheres pre destinate. which leaves u - with Choice!! - That was the bit that was in your control

Answer 3

i have thought the same question.
I think that both types of answers are possible.

it is possible that the life we live is a condensed version of what kind of life we lived in the pre-existence(mormon term) with a biblical foundation in the creation of the world and jesus.
So if our life is condensed we are more prone to do EVERYTHING that brought us into being necessary to come to this planet.
However Being free from from such a pattern can be changed if a person Repents of his sins. If we choose not to sin, we have a better chance of not repeating the patter we had in the previous life.
This is only contingent on the assumption that it is true that we have a patter to live by.

but despite the assumption, the bible does say we are set free in death. it is also written that if we repent and forsake our sins Jesus will forgive us. thus changing our path and our destination from where the sons of perdition go, to another destination where the kingdom of God is the final destination.

Answer 4

well, your life starts of with being born. Where were you born? This will have a profound impact on the rest of your life. So a pattern is already established there.

You are able to influence bits and pieces of it, maybe, but this will be done according to the patterns as they have already been established.

So, in a sense, yes, there is a pattern. A massive, chaotic, unpredictable pattern with for you as a human only a predictable start and ending.

Answer 5

You're talking about Determinism. The answer is, no-one knows.

It doesn't have a bearing on religion, which is stlll bunk, but this question is genuinely unanswered - and it's not about 'predestiny' or any superstitious version of this question. It's simply the question of - Given sufficient information about the state of every molecule in the universe, is it possible to predict the next state and the one after that? If the universe 'runs' conforming to a mathematical model which can be predicted, then this would have a wide-ranging impact on philosophy as well as science.

Answer 6

God has a plan for our lives, yet we DO have loose will. it really is why we finally end up with the themes we've in this international. Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For i comprehend the plans I absolutely have for you,” pronounces the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not at all to harm you, plans to grant you wish and a destiny....." Jesus died for all and loves us all. he's saddened on the actual shown truth that some turn remote from Him. The Bible talks about His destroying those interior the lake of fireplace as His unusual act. about the question of even if God takes a particular interest in some more suitable than others, see the verses above. All of His believers have their reward and that is to be with Him always. Persecution is often in simple terms area of being a believer.

Answer 7

A certain amount of your personality is encoded in your genes, although we do have control over our choices, lets just assume that our genetics will be a major contributor into the decisions we make. If you are some how able to free yourself from your biology then you, then you have achieved something special.If you have the foresight to stop yourself from error, then you will have power. God only knows what choices you will make, you do not yet.

Answer 8

i say 70% pattern, with 30% control, Freud said baby who are up 5 years has 95% of personality formed already, and they can still use the rest 5% in their life to influence choices, but not much..

Answer 9

Freud was a coked out lunatic.


Somewhere, beneath the swirling mass of chaos, there is a semblance of order.

However, I think your wondering if some higher being already has everything mapped out and you just follow that path. I doubt that.

The mechanics of Nature is what I think is behind it all. And Nature is my God.

Answer 10

God has given us each our own minds to do things like work at the job we enjoy, and do other regular things we like. But Christ already knows what we will do. Our life is already something that Christ knows all about. Even if we just decided to move to NYC or to get that new accountant job, He knows that.