Is fate real?

Question

Alright you philosophers out there. Do you think fate is real or even feasible?

Answer 1

Okay, well I'm not a philospher, but I belive in fate. Therefore  a big believer of "everything happens for a reason". And that would indicate that fate would have a hand in it, would it not?

Too many things seem to be happening "without reason" which add up, when you look back on history and then compare with the future action, for there to be nothing in it.

Answer 2

Yes, it's real when you have to sneeze or go to the washroom.

Answer 3

The reasonable person in me doesn't want to believe in fate..but the romantic in me has seen it first hand. ;-)

Answer 4

No, there are only choices we make. And no, I didn't just steal that from the Matrix.

Answer 5

in some senses of the word, yes

Answer 6

Yes it is, fate happens everyday, people die or get seriously injured in car wrecks, house fires, a severe wound in a battle in such places as Iraq, and sometimes strange and, bizarre accidents happen to people. Granted everything has a cause and affect in life, but not every event that affects us is the result of our own decision.

Answer 7

yes it is. =]

Answer 8

One can argue that because we are even discussing fate at this very moment, fate exists. With similarity to time, fate is a manmade concept or explanation for how things eventually occur, and as such, it is real, but it is not necessarily accurate. Again, with similarity to time, fate is also relative.

One can also argue, from a scientific perspective, that an individual is shaped by their experiences, and, since most (if not all) experiences are beyond their control, people are not in control of who they become entirely. The result is that we are predisposed to make decisions in a certain manner. From huge decisions such as who to marry, to little decisions like what speed to walk at. Fate would be the pathway that is created when one looks at the sum of all the experiences, chronologically, that someone has, and the resulting decisions that they make.

Let me put it this way. If you have two identical individuals genetically, and you submit them to exactly the same experiences and situations throughout each of their lives. Would you expect them to make the same decisions? Or would you expect them to differ and diverge from one another? This is assuming that all influences upon each of them are the same. From the positions of the moon and sun throughout their lives, to the number of hairs on their head.

Now, that being said, there's no way of knowing where that end will be, but that end DOES exist for us all.

But how feasible is fate? If fate exists, then what's the point of free will? Are we all just trains on tracks that go from one point to another? Or is fate only the end game, and the way in which we arrive at our destination is of our own volition?

I think that fate predetermined in the sense that I explained above, but it is not the removal of free will. Our free will is what shapes our fate, but our fate exists nonetheless.

Just for clarification, I'm discussing fate in the sense that it is one's "destiny" (... or "density" as George McFly called it).

Answer 9

Fate is definitely real, but it's only triggered by your desires and wills.

For example:

I can't sit along all day on the couch saying "This is my fate. This is what was written for me. I have to wait to see  what happens next."

No. Sure, your fate is done and sealed, but you need to move. You need to take action and do what YOU WANT TO DO so that you meet your fate halfway.

And if something happens that you believe is "for no reason," it DOES have a reason. Either to teach you a lesson, to give you more expertise at something, believe me.. this thing does have a purpose.

Also, did you hear about karma? I am a huge believer of karma. Even if the "revenge" is not directly the same as what you did, it is slight and indirect, something which kind of gets you feeling regret, grief, and remorse as much as you did to the other person.

Answer 10

say you *choose* to do something, anything, something really mundane like take a sip from your coffee mug.  Can you ever be 100% dead certain that you will realize your choice?

Can you be 100% sure that some random happenstance won't impede your desire to accomplish the act, perhaps the phone will ring, or you'll have a stroke or an anneurysm, or somone will walk by and start a conversation so you forget what you were about to do, perhaps the handle will break off the mug and you will spill its contents all over your lap.

If you don't have 100% surety that your choice will be realized then you have no freewill at all, only the appearance of freewill born from the regularity with which you choices do appear to play out as you expect.

Yes, we make choices, no we can't be 100% sure where they'll lead - that is fate.

Answer 11

It's the same as karma. I've experienced karma and so it's real to me.