Do you believe in fate or not?

[Beldryss]

I'm kind of on the fence about that, which is to say that I don't really know if I do or not. I think that saying there was a divine reason, or that fate is responsible is more of an easy excuse. By no means does that mean that I don't believe in fate, but I prefer to refer to the cause and effect theory . Such as if a person was to drink a gallon of prune juice, then that would be the obvious cause of a somewhat obvious reaction that would follow.

Granted that wasn't the most sophisticated of examples, but that is decent in showing the cause and effect theory.

[TheDeathKnight]

Most stuff in life is cause and effect.

Let's say you are born into some super-rich family.
You get a great upbringing, go to the best schools,
and end up a rich doctor or stock broker.

Or let's say you are born in the ghetto. You have
shitty parents, bad influences, bad schools,
and you end up a drug addict or a criminal.

Now to me, I see that as cause and effect.
Life has an effect on every person.
How you are raised, where you grow up, etc.
How you do in school, social situations, your
genetics, etc, all play a role in how your life turns out.

But everyone makes choices.

Some rich kid can choose to do lots of drugs,
or do nothing with their life. Like the typical Paris Hilton
rich kid. They can end up blowing their inheritance,
end up totally broke, etc. And some poor kid from
the ghetto can work hard and get scholarships,
and end up a very successful person.

Now is it "fate" that puts you in those situations?
I don't think so. If anything, I'd use the word "chance".
I also think "luck" has a lot to do with things.
Some people are lucky to be born into a rich
family. Some people are lucky, and win the lottery.
Some people are unlucky, and get cancer,
or hit by a car. There is so much randomness
in life.

But the main thing we all get to do, is make choices.
We get to decide what to do with every day.

Go back to school?
Start a business?
Start a band?
Do art?
Or stay home and get high?

Those are all choices.
Everyone makes them, and they are your responsibility.
You can't choose how your life starts, but you have a huge
part to play in how it turns out...

[Velvet-Tongue]

Nope. Can't see it, taste it, feel it or ever prove it exists so why bother.

Yeah you're going to end up doing something. Random chance does not equal fate though.

[aXa]

dont feel like explaining this in full right now. i believe in both Fate as well as Free-will. let's see. i think that there are things that are set to happen in our lives, from birth. however, the life we end up living can deviate very far and fast from that pre-arranged path. while maybe not exactly Fated per say, i feel we have certain predispositions in life that we are likely encounter. on a day-to-day basis, we make our own choices, more or less. but the more momentous 'milestone' type things, those are hard to avoid.

and as we live our life, we are recasting our lot, remaking our Fate, almost every moment. "no fate but what we make" still implies a bit of Fate.

[inox]

I see fate as a tendency, not an absolute certainty.

[VoltaireBlue]

I believe in making my own luck.

[Beldryss]

Some say that free will is an illusion of fate, and that fate is some sort of spiritual entity. Such as mythology. I don't know if I believe all of that, but that's both a scary and interesting concept.

[Mr Karl]

fate is pretty irrelevant except as a tool to be used for manipulation....if one is so inclined

[mystoo]

I believe that everything happens for a reason but you can't just sit around and wait for opportunity, you've got to make shit happen for you.

[Beldryss]

I also kind of do believe in fate. The first reason is because I don't want to make fate/the fates angry if such an entity or entities actually do exist. That would based on that old saying about not tempting fate. The other reason is because in some groups of events seem to be more than a mere coincidence, but either way, I don't actually know Granted a bunch of that might seem silly, but also might make for somewhat interesting conversation.

[One Eyed Cat]

I believe more in destiny than fate. A person is given the choice as to how to respond to a given experience. At the same time, it is hard to reconcile a seemingly senseless and tragic event. Is boarding the airplane that crashes fate? Boarding the next one that arrives safely? So: I believe where there is cognitive choice, we create destiny. A senseless death? We could call it fate or just bad luck.

[helcyon]

Fate may be a way of rationalising either the controllable or the uncontrollable. If so it doesn't really exist.Other than as a description of this.

[Janiac02]

I do have a (very non-scientific) belief in fate. I think we have control over our circumstances and how we react to events, but I do believe we are "meant" to meet certain individuals, or that we are given predispositions toward certain talents and abilities. Blame it on watching too many movies, if you will, but after having to meticulously plan to make sure all my basic needs are provided for, bills are paid, etc. I rather enjoy relinquishing a little control. I don't take it too seriously, of course.