my theory on fate
|
i was driving back from vegas one day with a couple friends. after just losing a
good chunk of dough and feeling a little cheated, naturally, the topic of
conversation soon became that of star trek and philosophy. i walked away from
that discussion with a little understanding in how i think the world works.
i think there is a reason for everything that happens in this universe. at the birth of this universe, whether it was created by a higher being or by some other means, its fate was sealed and predetermined to run a certain course as soon as it was set into motion. of course there are so many variables involved that there's no way in our finite minds to piece all the information together to see a clear picture of the outcome, and this is what we call 'randomness'. randomness as defined by the dictionary, however, i think is nonexistant. when we see something happen that makes no apparent sense on the surface, we might think the event occurred out of chance or randomness. but to investigate a little deeper into the matter, tracing it back one event at a time, i think reasons for the occurrence will become more and more apparent. the laws that govern this reality dictate a certain outcome to happen if a certain event occurs. what happens if 2 balls collide? well, depending on the force vectors, the elasticity of the balls, and countless other variables that are taken into account, will ultimately determine in which direction the balls will bounce apart from each other and how far they will land, etc. if the balls are then taken and then made to collide together again, given the conditions of the collision are setup to be exactly the same as the first collision, can the outcome be anything different than the first? can one ball land 5 feet away the first time and then 10 feet away the second time provided all the variables are identical? randomness does not occur as there is only one possible outcome for every event. this might be acceptable for physical things, but does randomness occur in people then? well, this will depend partially on if you think human beings are just machines, or perhaps, we're something more. if we are just machines, then obviously, we cannot do anything that is beyond our capabilities or even out of our programming. so are we just machines? i tend to think we are. the human brain is essentially the control center of our entire body... disable some part of the brain and it will appropriately disable the functionality that part of the brain provides. do you think speaking and writing english is a permanent part of you? well... it's not. take away the language centers in your brain and you will effectively lose the ability for language. take away the cones in your eyes and you will no longer be able to see color. some people think a person's experiences and memories determine a person. if that is the case, then that is just as fleeting as anything else because surely memories reside somewhere in the brain and it could easily be damaged or removed. there doesn't seem to be anything we can permanently keep to determine who and what we are. so if we are just machines, how can we ever do anything that is truely random? i think even though we may not know exactly why something happens, there is an underlying reason. so when the universe was first created, the instant that it was set into motion, everything that will ever happen, essentially our fates, was already determined. by the laws that govern this universe, if the outcome of a particular event A is dictated to be the outcome B, then how can randomness ever occur? i don't think it ever can which is why i think our fates and destinies were sealed since the beginning of time. |
the Rambling Corner