Rantman

9

Fate and free will. It is only recently that I have learnt that apart from being a popular pair of clashing philosophies, the idea of there being a written, unchangeable fate also has some religious connotation and backing. Although some other interpretations say that man's fall from heaven and evil was the price paid for obtaining free will. Nevertheless, arguing using logic in something associated with religion is probably a bad idea, but I'm going to try anyway, for I believe that perhaps fate exists, but its existence has been misunderstood by us.

As a believer in free will, I actually don't have much evidence to argue against fate. For whatever act of free will is committed to defy it, proponents of fate can always claim that it was predetermined. All I can share is my subjective view of objective events. Doesn't it appear that whatever actions we commit are in control of our free will? Nothing happens by itself, everything needs to be made to happen. Very few, if not none, have succeeded in life without hard work, or without working at all.  Many people have led colorful, unpredictable lives, driving off their most probable paths to the caprice of their free will. You might say its destiny they ended up the way they did, I would say its hard work and you are undermining their achievements (or their failures). It is but a matter of perspective.

One thing that bothers me about fate is that if it is written down, then why is it so hard to predict the future? Why do our decisions and its outcomes seem in our total control when they are in the present? Because if there is a set, unchangeable, written future, then shouldn't we find ourselves inexplicably drawn to follow its biding? And yet during many decision-making moments I feel none of this drawing, all I feel is confusion.

The philosophical version of fate is determinism, something that says that all events are caused by factors external to our will i.e. environment. I don't find much merit in it, because of two reasons. One is that while external factors can influence our free will, they don't control it. This can be seen in, say, siblings; they have grown up in similar environmental influences, yet there are countless possible permutations of their personality and actions, and they may turn out similar or different to each other in many ways. 

Or that thanks to the internet, even people living in the same locality may not share the same views/thoughts/opinions, due to external influence. Yet, is internet the sole reason that caused them to become different? No, its how they used the internet that impacted them. Some turn it into echo chambers for themselves, while others may use it to grow their knowledge and mind. Others may just use it for entertainment, and could stumble on media with a message. And these different combinations can play out in the same houses, the same families!

The other reason is that due to nature of the way time flows, determinism suffers from the fact that we are looking at the events and their causes after they have been caused. Let me give you an example, from cricket. Suppose the batsman hits a 6, the commentator is quick to praise their batting technique, criticize the bowling and name factors such as dew, pitch, wind speed etc. that assisted the batsman. Yet if in the very next bowl he gets out, the commentator praises the bowling technique, criticizes the batsman and says the pitch is conductive to the bowling type (spin, fast, bounce etc.) of the bowler. 

My point is, there will always be external factors for and against an event. Yet, what determines which set of external factors is stronger? In evaluating the causes of an event, determinism forgets to take free will itself as a factor that influences events. Yes, it is taken for granted that a batsman wants to score while a bowler wants to get them out, but it is the result of the conscious, continuous battle of wills that determines who has the edge in spirit. Both batsman and bowler need to arrange their mind in the right mindset to execute their technique(s). 

There are countless other examples where sheer willpower has a played a greater role than anything else in bringing about an event. Like there was the real life story of a man who planted a forest, over the course of 40 years. Every day, the person had a choice to abandon his mission, to simply stop planting new trees and go about his own life. There wasn't any directive, any external order or benefit for him to do this. There would have been no consequences if he left off. But he didn't, and I salute such willpower. I can't stick to a certain task for even 40 days, I can't imagine the level of their dedication to have done so for 40 years. 

But, I digress. I did say that in a way, fate also exists, in the start of this piece. But how can free will and fate coexist, when one of them says everything is in our hands and control, while the other says nothing is?

Well, there is a question of fate as to where and to whom you are born. For our environment has a great influence on the way our life would turn out to be. Just where we are born decides so much. Simply being born in the US or Canada makes it highly likely you'll get educated, while Niger or Central African Republic, not so much. Or our forest man, he lived near a dry, sandy patch of land near forests. If he was born and lived far away from the forests, chances are he wouldn't have developed such an affinity to them. But that doesn't mean his entire life's work was the result of fate, many others live near to and feel a connection with the forests, but very few end up planting one. Additionally, being born in a poor or restrictive family automatically hinders your capability to execute your free will compared to a rich and/or non-restrictive family, at least in your initial life. Most people follow the religion they were born in, almost till the end of their life.

And yet, there's another aspect of fate that exists too, which explains why certain events may seem almost 'destined' or 'fated', while others have clear causes and the hand of free will behind them.

Have you ever read a choices book? Its a rather newish, unconventional book format, wherein you play as the main character and are allowed to choose/make decisions for the character at many intervals, which impact the direction of the story. Now, imagine the book of fate. You thinking what I'm thinking? 

The writer of this book lives out of the space-time continuum, so its likely enough they would add this aspect if they wanted to. And doesn't it fit in better with the trajectory of lives we see, wherein some events happen out of sheer luck, while others are the culmination of a deliberate journey of years? Isn't it always that some things are completely out of our control, while some are completely or partially within it? This could explain why. The book of fate is a choices book!

Okay, this example is going to be long, but let me tell you the story of a mediocre 52-year old milkshake-mixer salesman. At a time when the company he worked for was losing lot of sales due to lower priced competition, he received an order of 6 milkshake machines out-of-the-blue. This surprise event I attribute to fate, for it led to him knowing about the existence of a local fast food restaurant called McDonalds. 

However, it was Ray Kroc's (the milkshake machine salesman) free will to go out of his line of expertise to invest everything he had in McDonalds, make it into a national franchise and eventually gain ownership of it. Thousand others had visited the store, many others may have thought it to be a worthy investment. But it was Ray Kroc who convinced the reluctant McDonalds' brothers with his vision and persistence to start franchising their model, and let him manage the expansion efforts. There was nothing that told him to dive in headfirst into a new business, at a 50+ age. He had a comfortable living and could have easily turned away from the restaurant to go about his own life, like all the others who knew of it. This was a choice node, and Ray Kroc made the choice to invest, based on his free will. 

But it was fate that enabled him to make the choice, since how could he have joined up in the McDonalds operations, if he didn't know about it in the first place? You could say that it was written that Ray Kroc would know of McDonalds if they ordered the 6 milkshake machines from his company, which would present to his mind the choice of investing and building its franchise, or just going ahead with his own life after that fateful event. If the order hadn't been placed in Ray Kroc's company, chances were that he may have never gotten to know of McDonalds!

Life is such a tapestry of fate and free will! Each event is interlinked with others and decides the fate/luck of who knows whom! The McDonalds' brothers didn't even know of Ray Kroc, but the decision of whether they should order from his company or its competitor may have decided Ray Kroc's entire life ahead! 

I feel as if I understand life a bit more...its complicated for sure, but then when has its answers ever been simple?

According to me, the hands of fate and free will, exist together, each gaining precedence over one another depending on the person and what's happening in their life. Humans are certainly responsible for their own actions, for it is our choice as to how much we let external factors influence our free will. And some events that happen to us will always remain out of our control, governed by fate/luck. An everlasting duality. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be, yes.