[The Dev]

Some say fate, as if all is guided by a higher power.

Some say free will, with the idea of fate allowing people to think that they are not responsible for bad decisions etc.

Some say Karma.


What say ye?

I say no fate. Free will without a higher power governing any of it. Infinitely many possibilities, all simultaneously acting themselves out, providing an extra dimension of infinity to the universe. No rewards for 'good', no punishments for 'bad'--only what is, forever. Each is responsible for his own deeds, but only while responsibility still has a shade of meaning.

Beautifully meaningless free will, on the grand scale. But it matters to us arrogant chemical blobs. And so it's important. Perception is reality.

All you are is all you are (familiar), which is connected to everything else, if indirectly.

Forgive my disconnectedness, but I've only just had a nap...

based on personal experience, i have always believed in the power of Karma being a guiding force in life.
I have had many instances in life, where i have treated a person or situation with more kindness and respect and somehow, that good will comes back to me in one form or another. the same can be said for negativity (which i seem to have a lot of.... still working on that one)
I guess it all falls back on my discovery of Emoto's Hado theory. it seems that positive energy can enlighten us, but with the way our current world is, it can be quite hard to share such optimism at times.

Free will with bits o' Karma. And we're ALWAYS responsible.

I say no fate. Free will without a higher power governing any of it. Infinitely many possibilities, all simultaneously acting themselves out, providing an extra dimension of infinity to the universe. No rewards for 'good', no punishments for 'bad'--only what is, forever. Each is responsible for his own deeds, but only while responsibility still has a shade of meaning.

Beautifully meaningless free will, on the grand scale. But it matters to us arrogant chemical blobs. And so it's important. Perception is reality.

All you are is all you are (familiar), which is connected to everything else, if indirectly.

Forgive my disconnectedness, but I've only just had a nap...

I completely agree with this mans comments. Said what i was thinking but couldnt put into words that well... thanks mate

Although recently i have found that things seem to happen for a reason which contradicts my belief so i dont know what this means:D

I have been through some big changes but they seem to all have been for the better, changes that perhaps i was afraid to make but was then given an opportunity which i felt almost forced into. Whilst i didnt enjoy that part the outcome has been very rewarding and i feel at peace with myself. If you just go with the flow things seem to even themselves out in the end. So maybe there is some aspect of fate but i believe we control our own fates.

This is similar to the whole original sin idea etc isnt it, I dont believe in that, You grow up the way you are brought up, your personality from genes etc and from environmental factors throughout life. Life is an everchanging thing and so are we.

i'd say the subconscious/purely biological part of us makes most of the decisions, then, out of boredom, the mind makes up motivations afterwards.
so, no fate, but no conventional free will either.
karma plays a big role, though. but only micro-karma - within 1 lifetime. after that we decompose and it's over.

This is an extremely interesting topic, because it has been on my mind for some time now.
are my thoughts on karma merely my own interpretation of my mind having an effect on the things around me on a quantum level?
in the process of thinking positive about something, is that thought influencing the outcome?

I'm... Not entirely sure.

I want to say Free Will, with a touch of Hive Mind to us. Most of us humans, as a collective, want good things to happen. So I suppose we are our own Higher Being? Type of thing? xD

Fate.

Most of us humans, as a collective, want good things to happen. So I suppose we are our own Higher Being?

very good point. stuff like karma and fate can really be thought of as the sum of human behaviour we can not see deep enough to understand.

It's an interesting topic, I like to think there's no such thing as fate or a higher power, there is only free will.

But it's still interesting to ponder other ideas. I remember reading these time travel theories about linear time. Meaning that time is a straight line, everything that has happaned has and will happen again. And if I were to go back in time and change something I would still be trapped in the this linear time string because I was supposed go back in time and change that certain thing, I did once and will again never knowing I was in an infinte loop. And because of this there is such a thing as fate but in turn that means there's no such thing as free will because time is basically... just a string, and we're just playing it out. This was supported by ideas that every possible outcome of every decision will happen with in it's own temporal string or whatnot. So there are infinite realities playing out different outcomes of each and every ones life.

Interesting to read stuff like that, and to expand on it. Like if there was an higher being, would there be one for each and every reality not knowing that there were infinte versions of itself out there. Or is there one supreme being that spent it's time dealing with infinite realities for every possible outcome for all things, because that must be a real bitch to deal with. Hell if I was that deity I would take the seventh day off aswell.

But, I like to think there is free will, no divine power and only coincidence. If there is an higher power it's another life form, not divine but certainly incredible and propably with a higher understanding on just about everything.... or not... who knows. Fun to ponder these things though.

Finding stuff like this fascinating and watching scince fiction shows about time travel is a bitch, your brain goes into overdrive.

ohh yeah, first post, long time lurker... so ... hi.

I believe in neither fate nor free will. Thoughts and actions are a complex system I'm not going to pretend to fully understand but I'll give my two cents. The simple act of choosing a candy bar at a convenient store should be a good example. You process past experiences you had with various candy bars, then you think of what mood you're in and what snack would best suit it. But what control over any of this is yours? Your mood is simply chemical reactions within reacting with chemical reactions without. At the same time you do have a catalog of knowledge of each bar and you do have the ability to choose which to buy. But your whole life is reacting with the external so you really don't have that much say in the way the universe wishes to play itself out. But you do have some say.

I have this silly little theory that everything always "works out". I've had tons of critical situations, but in the end they just go away, and everything goes back to normal. Over time, I found it interesting that there was this pattern of things always ending up for the best or working out or not mattering in the end, and initially suspected God or fate or some shit. Then it occured to me that it's really just "people" who made it all work out and for the best, and that our collective free wills form a sort of fate, if you will. That individually, we have a free will, but we collectively, in big groups or small, decide how things end up. It's "people" that I believe in.

In a sense, karma works the same way. What you do impacts how people react and respond to you. Constant negativity is just going to turn around on you eventually.

If that makes sense.

this is deep shit bro....

Now with this post I'll dive into something a little more out there. Suppose time is infinite and there are an infinite amount of universes (string theory). And if all you are is a series of random events through infinite time than you where 100% guaranteed to live. That also means that you exist infinitely through every universe and our own. Remember all "you" are is a collection of memories and atoms which will over a long enough time line reassemble. So if this is true then we all never really die and we all really are one. Sort of think of as consciences just collapsing, morphing and reconstructing forever. But I have no idea if any of this is correct or not. But I think if it is than it has a huge impact on how we should view free will.

I believe in Karma, a person does good things day in day out and goes out of their way to help others feel good and has a general positive outlook on life in general.

I believe if you are good to people like this and are generally positive, then goodness will come back to you, I believe if you are negative all the time and hostile to people around you eventually you are going to come a cropper, people will avoid you, talk crap about you and what not and you will go on a downward spiral

This is relation to fate, I believe a person chooses their own path BUT recently i feel there is definately a higher presence out there that guides you and makes amazing things happen, and usually the smallest things will have the biggest impact on you later in life, I have recently found this and against all odds the most amazing things have happened for me that you wouldnt believe possible, like meeting the person of your dreams in the most unlikely place by pure chance and fluke.
Things like this make me fully believe that Fate definately guides people, but maybe only certain people..... tis a tough one really.

Im 50/50 on free will and fate, both scary as hell yet amazing. Boooooyah