Fate??? What does it mean?

Question

This may seem like a random question and it is, but also a serious one. If you belive in fate why? If you dony why?

Answer 1

I believe in an ultimately benevolent universe. Scrooge had a great deal of pleasure being Scrooge before he became Scrooge.

Answer 2

The concept of fate has been abused by people such as Deal Or No Deal contestants and other such riff-raff, but it's actually a sophisticated philosophical concept that I and many others believe in with good reason.

Firstly, if you look back at the past it is unchangeable. The past was once the future, and our future will eventually become the past (i.e. also unchangeable).

Secondly, there is a theory called determinism which states that free-will is an illusion. I act and think in the way that I do due to external and internal forces that I have no control over (e.g. sensory perception, memories etc). In the same way that if I picked up and threw a rock at a window, and the window smashed (i.e. the rock had no choice whether to be thrown through the air, and the window had no choice whether or not to smash) we are similarly affected by such forces and have no choice in the way that we think and act. The decision I made to click on your question was not a choice as such, but rather the effect of an almost infinite number of variables. This might suggest that all matter has a certain level of awareness or consciousness, even down to a rock or the keys I'm bashing to type this out, and that life is merely a specific form of matter with the mechanisms to demonstrate the effects of variables. Determinism is just a theory, but I think it's a theory with a lot of power.

Answer 3

Fate can be understood as the inevitable outcome from a instigating action.

This means that the 'fate' of an action or person must not only be evident in its beginning, no subsequent actions after the initial act can have any affect other than to bring about the original (however known or unknown) outcome.

As such, Shakespeare could never have written Ramone and Jasmine, or Reginald and Justina, after the initial impulse to write a romantic tragedy was planted.

The reason why most people don't believe in fate is because the idea is very uncomfortable to them, since (to their mind) it absolves them of either responsibility or control within their own life. Since people believe they have to 'control' their lives in order to get what they want, taking that control away makes them believe that they will never get what they want.

Of course, 'fate' is, in and of itself, neutral. There are plenty of disadvantages to being 'in control' of one's life, so philosophically, the debate is less about what is true and more about what is most comfortable for the individual at the time.

Answer 4

I think, fate is the belief that everything that happens, happens for a predestined reason and that no matter what conscious efforts are made, a pre destined result will always prevail. Being religious, I believe that my life has a plan, but I believe I have a role to play in that plan other than just being in it. I think I get what I give back so fate and free will meet somewhere

Answer 5

It means that, if you spend enough time trolling Myspace for dates, you won't ever meet the girl at the coffee shop.

Believing in fate is a paradox, as well as a self-fulfilling (and self-defeating) prophecy.

To believe in fate means to move forward in a state of constant uncertainty that the path you're on is the one you're "supposed to" be on, all the while looking back with an unwavering sense of regret at all the "wrong turns" which brought you to your present state of confusion... which in turn leaves you no choice but to put faith in concepts like fate.

So you go down to that coffee shop to meet the girl, but she's at home blogging about the nature of fate on some Yahoo forum.

Sucks, don't it?

Answer 6

“Fate and destiny “ –they are somewhat the same.
In short, those events that suppose to happen in their peculiar of ways are inevitably predetermined. Beneath the skin, we are the same; however, the natural disposition has ensured our dissimilarity, such that we are never the same in destiny. My saying goes-- you can will yourself to whatever level of commitment in life, but destiny is unalterable.—in the end you are what you become as dictated by destiny.

Should you be disheartened that nothing fruitful has happened to you, when others have roller coasters to success and recognition? In this case do not give up --who knows your fortune will come later. The fact is-- you cannot be certain of what is ahead which give you a better reason to strive, in case you are indeed destines for something in life, and you will never know unless you even out those odds that stand in your way. ---you work within your means to the best of ability.

Answer 7

Most if not all Great Philosophers believe in fate. That is why fate is major subject matter in Philosophy.
I believe in it. I believe in it's irrevocable force and strength. We either feign it or take it the way it is presented to our being. No matter, we are still responsible for our actions using our free-will.

Answer 8

fate is like when everything that happens in life has already been chosen for you, but fate is real in some ways and fake in others... fate can be like how you were born and when you die, but its not if u go to detention at school or if u decide to take a trip to paris.

Answer 9

If you believe in fate then you believe that your actions are pre-determined by a universal force. This means that you have no personal resonsibility for your actions and that everything you do has been pre-ordained.

I don't believe in fate, because I prefer to think that my actions are my responsibility and no-one elses.

Answer 10

Fate is all the stuff that is meant to happen to you. I believe we pick a path in life and each has it's own repercussions... Fate is in which ever way we go..... I'm doomed!

Answer 11

If you believe in fate you think that your whole life is planned out for you. I, personally, do not believe in fate because I think that we make our own future by making choices of our own.