Philosophy of Fate, Causality, Consequences, Choice, Free Will and Probability

[Mt. Nixion]

I have these ideas about these things and I would like your opinion. You may not agree, but it is what I think.

First, I would like to say that Fate/Destiny and Causality are linked. To me, fate predestines things and people, which is why people or outside infulences
of a person control your fate. I will explain how Causality and Fate are related in the next three paragraphs.

There is something we all known as Free Will. We all make choices by our own free will. But what about the outside influences and people around you? If you choose to drop a glass vase, it will break. If you choose to misbehave, you get punished. If you choose to give a tree some water, it will grow. If you choose to do as you're told, you get rewarded. The first two are examples of fate giving bad consequence and the last two are fate giving good consequenses.

If you choose to do something bad, like running into a wall; The laws of physics will punish you by making the wall hurt you if you don't break through it, since you did not have enough energy to break it. If you do break through the wall, the laws of physics will help you by having the wall break because of its weak structure.

If you hurt a person of higher power, he will have the choice to have you arrested. If you are not that person, that person's choice is a part of fate,
since you have no control of his actions and he is giving you a consequence. This is also Causality, since your choice is the cause and the person's choice, or your fate is the consequence.

There are two types of apporaches in Psychology. One of them is Behaviorism, whis is cause and effect and rewards and punishments. THe other is Humanism; the apporach that each human has the potential to become a great person, which has free will. I believe that The humanism approach and the behaviorism apporach go with each other because when you make a choice, you get punished or rewarded for it.

When the sun heats a meadow for a very long time, the consequence is that the meadow will become a desert. Thisis governed by physical laws, like heat and the plants withering. Human made decisions are also governed by physical laws, since the brain uses chemicals to think.

Last thing I want to go over is probability. Probablility, to me, is nothing more than the laws of physics working. If you hold a dice at the right side, the right angle and throw it at the right speed, you will get a six. Same thing for flipping a coin. Holding it at the right side and right angle as well as throwing it at the right speed will get you heads. Also, ite weather is said to be unpredictable. However, by measuring the all of the factors that change the weather, it is possible to measure it accurately.

That is all. Please share your opinion.

 

[octelcogopod]

Good post.

I like the way you sort of appoint determinism to the higher levels.
When I think of cause and effect, I think of the basic building blocks of the universe, for example superstrings.
But cause and effect does indeed exist everywhere, it is the most basic building block of the universe almost.

To share my point of view, I think that the universe, and especially the mind, is so complex, that we will never be able to calculate and predict it successfully with physics.
One day we might get close, where we can "precog" events, like say in 500 years, but until then, we still have the illusion of free will.
While I bet you are thinking "you can't prove that." And this is true, I can't. However, I believe that for the universe to function properly, we would need determinism.
And with determinism comes something that we all hate; destiny.
But is the universe really just one big domino effect?
Could it really be that simple? (Relatively simple that is)

VBut regardless, i liked how you applied cause and effect on a more humane level. However, there are many exceptions to these rules, so many in fact that they can barely be called rules at all.

 

[Mt. Nixion]

Thanks for your opinion, octelcogopod.

 

[Dmstifik8ion]

Fate is what happens when we relinquish control over our lives. Ask yourself these two questions. Who/what is influencing the direction in which my life is going? How do I gain more control over my life?

The purpose of the first question is to take inventory of what is controlling your destiny. This shows you where the reins are that you must access to steer yourself towards your goals. Once you get to a point where you are confronted with choices than you need to prioritize by what will give the best results. Steer away from goals with rewards which don’t justify the time, energy and risk of failure needed to achieve them, instead steer towards goals that yield satisfactory rewards. Remember that success is the greatest motivator.

The reason for the second question is to understand where choice comes from and what our goals should be. Other (non-human) species have very little choice but to follow their instinctual programming. We however have the capacity to understand what we are and what will make our lives better. This is what makes choice possible and therefore cultivating this ability should direct our goals. Once this is in place our possibilities grow exponentially.

One other point I’d like to make is that questioning our ability to make a difference in our lives is a self-fulfilling prophecy. By directing our attention away from what we could be doing we leave no alternative but to succumb to fate.

 

[Dmstifik8ion]

The fundamental choice in any situation is to think or not to think. If determinism was a fact than thought would be pointless. The choice to believe in determinism is an attempt to evade responsibility for ones choices and actions just as choosing not to think is an attempt to evade the reality that reason is our method of survival and as such defines us as a species.