Thread: Fate vs Free Will vs Destiny

Fate vs Destiny vs Free Will is one of the most fundamental philosophical questions that exists. Which one (or a combination of both?!) do you believe in and why? Please elaborate on your answers and do not just post one sentence responses.

Fate defines events as ordered or "inevitable" and you do not have a choice in the events as the unfold.

Destiny may be seen either as a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life. (ie you are destined to experience certain things in your life but how you get there is up to you)

Free Will implies that you are completely free to choose your own future and have no predetermined path in life.


Please keep this a constructive discussion and view this topic with an open mind. Please be respectful of other people's opinions. They are entitled to theirs just as you are entitled to yours.

Well since I answered in the other Forum, that I do believe in God.

I will take the side of destiny or (pre-destination) with partial will. I realize that's not a choice, I altered free will. I believe only God truly has free will, because only God can do whatever we wants. Sure we have lots of choices in life "Coke Pepsi" "PC Mac" etc. But I can't choose to be 8 feet tall and fly like superman.

That being said pre-destination comes in with the choices that are not mine to make. (like my good looks lol) God has made those decisions for me (before time began)

I think that we are free to some extent to decide what we do...however, we are limited in the number of decisions we can actually think of/choose from. In some sense we are free to do whatever we want. Unfortunately, the total number of "things" to choose from is limited. It is when we incorporate what other people choose to do/can choose to do that the mathematical equation gets crazy. I believe that with time, perhaps we can come up with a formula which may predict the most logical and predictable paths...

I think that everything is fated from the VERY beginning. There is no "chance." Chance and randomness are purely perceptions we have when we don't understand all the variables going in to what we're talking about.

By extension, everything we do is already inevitable. Therefore I believe in fate.

The things that happen to us are predetermined by our own choices and other people's choices. Of course, the choices of some people affect you more than others. The only example that I can think of is the following... An alcoholic is trying to quit drinking. He struggles with it, but one night goes to the bar and gets wasted. It was a choice he made, never mind the factor of addiction and everything. He could have resisted the urge, but didn't. Let's just say (hypothetically) that you decide to go out for a walk. Your mom tells you that you should go pick up a few things from the grocery store. You have second thoughts about going, but your mom tells you that she'll make that cake you like (or whatever) in order to sway you into doing her that favor. You make a choice to go. The alcoholic I mentioned knows he shouldn't drink and drive, but he makes the choice to do so. He steers out of control and hits you with his car. You remain a cripple for the rest of your life or die.

So, who could you blame for that? Is it the circumstances of that man becoming an alcoholic? His decision to get into a car despite the fact he's drunk? Or maybe you should blame your mom for not going to the ******* store herself? Or maybe it's you and your weakness for that cake?

See, when you are confronted with such a thing as casting blame, there are just too many things to factor in, and some people say it's fate, or destiny. In fact, it's just a whole bunch of choices a bunch of people make that defines a society's or an individual's future.

I believe everyone makes their own choices but i also think at some points in your life something it's destined to happen and based on your choices it will affect you more or less like maybe there was meant for that alcoholic to drink and drive that night so you get hit and meet the love of your life who is a nurse at that hospital, but you could have chosen not to go to the store

Originally Posted by tehnerd

I think that everything is fated from the VERY beginning. There is no "chance." Chance and randomness are purely perceptions we have when we don't understand all the variables going in to what we're talking about.

By extension, everything we do is already inevitable. Therefore I believe in fate.

Yes, tehnerd is right. We do live in a deterministic universe, and as uncomfortable as it sounds, free will is only an illusion. If we can agree that the behavior of the elements (atoms) of the universe are completely predictable and without chance, then it follows that your thoughts are just as predictable since your mind and 'consciousness' is nothing more than the interaction of those basic elements. Trippy, I know.

I don't believe in the idea that we have a specific preset path and/or destination in life that cannot be changed. I do believe we have the free will to decide which paths in life we take. However, I also believe in either a higher power or a really strange series of chance coincidences (whatever you want to call it) that try to influence our decisions by making certain paths easier or harder. Despite these influences, I believe we still ultimately control which path we take, be it the hard road or the easy road, and this is the only thing that impacts our destination in life.

Originally Posted by s2cuts

Yes, tehnerd is right. We do live in a deterministic universe, and as uncomfortable as it sounds, free will is only an illusion. If we can agree that the behavior of the elements (atoms) of the universe are completely predictable and without chance, then it follows that your thoughts are just as predictable since your mind and 'consciousness' is nothing more than the interaction of those basic elements. Trippy, I know.

Thought this debate could do with the compatiblism argument Majority of people will fall victim to the deterministic nature of the universe this is inedible. However don't discount chance, statistically we will always get a percentage that diverge. Its also worth mentioning the levels of free will too such as low level freedoms like what you will eat ect are easier to have the determined path altered due to there frequency of occurrence and small effect on the future, whereas higher free choices such as your career are less likely to be altered as there effects are manly dominated by the nature of the universe. So freewill can be compatible with determinism in certain instances otherwise we are pretty much robots .