Fate or Free will?

[Dalec]

I think there is no way to prove either way. I think there is a predetermined fate, but in a way such as we know the past. If you think about it, when Atilla fought his wars, everything he did was unknown until he did it. Now, what he did is known in a set order making a sort of \'fate\' of the past. I don\'t believe fate controls your choices, however. You as a person control your personality and choices. So I guess you could say I believe in both but in different ways.

If God made people, and he knows who is and isn\'t going to heaven, why did he create us? And why create us so imperfectly? It doesn\'t make sense to me...(I don\'t believe in religion myself, though I am not opposed to it)

[Olig]

Davis sez:
if whatever higher power exists within the bounderies of our universe.

There is a theorized universe of anti-matter that exists beyond our own, but its not proven.  Its the only other \"thing\" i have heard of that exists beyond our universe. If a particle were to meet its anti-matter counterpart and touch it, both of them would explode. Anti-matter has been created in labs, but only reminants of its existance remained after ours consumed them.

[Davis]

I\'v enr heard that one before... ever heard of the theory of multiple, bubble-like universes? That\'s actually the one I was going by. But like you said, it\'s a theory. Neither possibility can be ruled out yet.

[derwoodly]

\"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.\"

-- Albert Einstein

[Abemore]

Free will is only an oxymoron if you believe in fate.  That is, if you believe everything in life is preordained; choice is just an illusion; someone or something wills you to do the things you do, it is not your choice.  Free will would then be an oxymoron just like military intelligence, Microsoft Works, and peacekeeper missile.

If that\'s not what you believe, then free will is not an oxymoron.  Perhaps, as someone mentioned, free will only exists on the small scale, but the bigger picture is controlled by fate.  This would mean that the choices we make do not matter in the long run, as we will all end up in the same place.

Then there is the possibility that our will is truly free, and our future is not preordained.  Every choice we make ripples out and effects our lives just as portrayed in the film The Butterfly Effect (great film by the way).  Every time Ashton Kutcher went back in time and changed something, his present was greatly effected.  Then again, maybe this is just the small scale and the rest of the world progressed exactly the same.  No, not if the Terminator movies have anything to say about it.  Killing important people should greatly effect the future.  Though, if I remember correctly, they weren\'t able to change the future in the Terminator movies.  It seemed to have been fated.


p.s. Luck is a term used to describe things that happen despite the fact that they have a low probability of happening.  For example, you\'re lucky if you leave a casino with more money than you went in with.