Destiny

Destiny; a romantic idea with unromantic philosophical ramifications. Destiny postulates that sometimes "things were meant to be," that there is a way things are meant to be, an underlying order to the universe that we can't see but we follow anyway. To me, destiny and free will are incompatible. Destiny and fate imply determinism; that all things that have been, are and will be was determined at the beginning of the universe. Determinism implies that our will is meaningless; we are merely puppets in the great cosmic scheme and we may as well be dolls for all the meaning our decisions and desires have.

Even if there is some validity to this idea, I see no appeal to living my life believing in such an idea. I will apply a different version of Occam's Razor here; I have two equally valid theories, but one grants me control of my life and the other takes the control away. To me, there is no contest. If I am going to live my life, then I want to believe I am in control of it and that my decisions matter. Otherwise, why even bother going through the charade?

Of course, people like the ideas of fate and destiny because, yet again, it allows them to take the easy path. If bad things happen, they were destined to happen. If there is fate, then that means that even if I am having poor luck, things are bound to turn in my favor soon. Ideas such as this encourage people to keep making the same bad decisions, because they never have to examine their own lives for reasons why things are the way they are.

I blame no one else when things are bad in my life; I make enough poor decisions that I am sure that any misfortune I incur is a direct result of one of those poor decisions. What no one wants to admit is that we all make poor decisions. We may justify them in our mind with various excuses (it was one time, I love him/her, I needed it, etc.), but we are guilty of it. I see nothing wrong with that. Part of living is being able to make your own decisions and live by the consequences. Sure, I could always make good decisions, but then my life would be boring and I'd be miserable. I accept the possible consequences for my actions because I did a cost-benefit analysis, and the benefit of having a good time is far better than the cost of possible consequences that might suck. This may sound like a justification, but it isn't; they are still bad decisions. I simply accept that fact.

Of course, people want to live in fantasy worlds where they never make a bad decision, because they are perfect. Living in their castles in the air, they are untouchable and infallible. I can't understand living like that. Sure, reality sucks, but that's what makes it fun. Nothing bores me more than knowing exactly what is going to happen. Leave destiny and fate to the romantics and the poets; give me good old chaos and unpredictability any day of the week.

It's funny, I have been told I have a gift for figuring people out, and yet to me, the most awesome thing anyone can do is something completely unexpected.