Free Will or Predestination?

[Aspiringanonymous]

Do we truly have the power to shape our own destiny? Or, does everything ultimately follow a master design, whether we are conscious of it or not?

Since everything happens as a result of something, and is also the cause of something else; no actions are truly independent events.

Just as an example, it is not an uncommon experience for one to regret a decision one has made in the past, thinking that "if only I had known... if only I had done this instead of that" ... however, when the entire complexity of the situation is taken into consideration, it is often hard to see how things could have possibly turned out any other way, given the various internal and external circumstances at that time.

[Bluearmy]

Free will. The options we have are molded by what other people before us have done in the past; and the choices we make will mold our and other people's futures. But it is still choice. Just because something miraculous happens doesn't mean it was some sort of supernatural force or being. Just as said "It feel into place like that thanks to the choices we made."

Case/Effect. You're not being controlled to a pre-determined destiny.

[Perseus]

Y'know, the thing is.. I kinda don't, in a sense. Mainly because of deja vu. It's just, some things I know for a fact that I seen them somewhere else before, then I do all these things that lead up to the event I have already witnessed.

EDIT: So, I am kinda on the yes, but no can work for me too; hard to explain, though.

[Hyper]

Well now this is something my mind is not completely made up on but what I've made up on for myself at least is that free will definitely exists and ''fate'' in the sense that most portray it doesn't guide us.

The only thing I'm willing to believe is that perhaps we were meant to ''get somewhere'' as our ultimate destiny but whether we get there or not is fully up to ourselves and our own actions.

[Sage]

To quote Neo from The Matrix, "I dislike the thought that I'm not in control of my own destiny."

[2D]

I can do whatever the fuck I want. Whether the decisions I make are predestined or not, I really don't care. I feel like I'm making my own decisions, so it doesn't matter if I am or not. In my mind, I'm in control of my choices.

[Zephyr]

Free will. We have the ability to make decisions of our own.
Some 'great force' out there didn't put it into my head that I need to do this, that or the other.
I've weighed my pros and cons and gone from there,
Or simply sometimes decide on impulse.

If everything was predestined, then there would be no room for variables.

[INFERNO]

Free will. If something is predestined then the intricate loops and turns and inside-outs would be inconcevible to plan out do the immense complexity of accounting for the internal loops and the external loops and the interpersonal loops. It's not finding a needle in a haystack, it's finding the one needle in one million haystacks.

[Grinchilla]

I agree,
but maybe it's just because I'm not smart enough to understand free will. Science can't explain free will... science is basically the study of reactions actually...

idk.

EDIT: maybe it's more of the science behind choice. everything has science behind it.

[Sage]

everything has science behind it.

Not really.

[INFERNO]

I agree,
but maybe it's just because I'm not smart enough to understand free will. Science can't explain free will... science is basically the study of reactions actually...

idk.

EDIT: maybe it's more of the science behind choice. everything has science behind it.

I don't think you're understanding what science itself actually is. Free will is easy to understand as it's self-explanatory. Science though is the study not of reactions but of any phenomena presumably in nature. Not everything has science behind it though as there are many concepts science hasn't quite got a foothold of yet.

[Dreaming Cannibal]

hard determinism; we have no free will everything is cause and effect
soft determinism; we have somewhat of free will but not really only when we are determined enough no to be led by our decisions.
and something else dont remember and i dont have my philosphy book near

[drumir93]

I almost completely believe that on some level everybody who believes in predestination does so to avoid admitting they've made mistakes or to be lazy.
Obviously I believe in free-will. Otherwise what would it feel like to make an important decision? Why do people get thrown into near-death only to save themselves? Why is there a story in The Daily Chronicle about a man who has been conscious and paralyzed, living in agony for 23 years. Somehow I don't see that being useful in anybodies master design.

[Perseus]

I almost completely believe that on some level everybody who believes in predestination does so to avoid admitting they've made mistakes or to be lazy.
Obviously I believe in free-will. Otherwise what would it feel like to make an important decision? Why do people get thrown into near-death only to save themselves? Why is there a story in The Daily Chronicle about a man who has been conscious and paralyzed, living in agony for 23 years. Somehow I don't see that being useful in anybodies master design.

I semi believe in predestination because of deja vu. Not because I want to blame my laziness on it or something. And I know I'm lazy, by the way.

[matts13]

I can do whatever the fuck I want. Whether the decisions I make are predestined or not, I really don't care. I feel like I'm making my own decisions, so it doesn't matter if I am or not. In my mind, I'm in control of my choices.

You know, I completely agree with you. Have a look at The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's entry about free will (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A301122) if you're interested, it explains your view in greater detail.