Destiny
I have finally found an analogy for how I feel about destiny, or fate, and free will. I believe in both, which seems to be a conflict. But here's how I think about it.
Each person has a path in life. It's a nice wide dirt path through the woods. It doesn't matter what particular steps you take on the path (free will) but the overall direction is still the same (destiny). The paths of other people overlap with your path to varying degrees. Some chance meeting of someone whom you never see again is a tiny overlap. If the two of you do not happen to take the right steps to end up in the overlapped bit, it doesn't matter. Other people, however, such as spouses, have a complete overlap (at least for some period of time). Again, the individual steps each person takes within do not matter (and so one person could do something different from the other, or meet different people, or have different hobbies, whatever) but the overall direction is the same for both people. It is possible to change your path (free will again), but this affects your destiny and those of other people, and so is difficult to do. I liken it to getting off your path and hiking through the woods, beating back the bushes, until another path is found. This involves destroying your old path, and results in shifts in the paths of people important in your life (present and future), which is why it is difficult to do.
Each person has a path in life. It's a nice wide dirt path through the woods. It doesn't matter what particular steps you take on the path (free will) but the overall direction is still the same (destiny). The paths of other people overlap with your path to varying degrees. Some chance meeting of someone whom you never see again is a tiny overlap. If the two of you do not happen to take the right steps to end up in the overlapped bit, it doesn't matter. Other people, however, such as spouses, have a complete overlap (at least for some period of time). Again, the individual steps each person takes within do not matter (and so one person could do something different from the other, or meet different people, or have different hobbies, whatever) but the overall direction is the same for both people. It is possible to change your path (free will again), but this affects your destiny and those of other people, and so is difficult to do. I liken it to getting off your path and hiking through the woods, beating back the bushes, until another path is found. This involves destroying your old path, and results in shifts in the paths of people important in your life (present and future), which is why it is difficult to do.
posted by Carrie Gates at 8:46 PM
2 Comments:
A comment from someone who crossed your path once ... how can you tell if switching your destiny wasn't part of your destiny in the first place.
And I'm not sure if the old path need be destroyed, since ultimately it was the old path that helped you find the new path to some degree.
All in all though, it's a great analogy. Personally, I just hope there's a bar at the end of the path because sounds pretty long and thirsty.
I think you guys both need a good book on the meaning of determinism and free will (or illusion thereof). This stuff has been done to death, but a better understanding of the debate would perhaps prevent you from shooting yourself in the foot every second sentence :) Entertaining though...
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