What if our lives were not our own? What if fate controlled our lives and free will was a thing of imagination? Let’s examine the pros and cons of this scenario. On the one hand that would mean that we could do no wrong. Since we no longer had choice then good and evil were no longer our responsibility. We could live our lives with zero guilt or worry because all decisions were gone. This would confirm that our creator is truly a selfish one of human failings to use us as puppets upon a string or would it be proof that it cared so much so as to not allow us to fail? Why would a omnipotent being create these beautiful beings, only to allow them nothing of life? It would not be our own lives if we were not doing the choosing! Perhaps like controlling parents, it believed that it was protecting us.
On the other hand, what if fate only carried the playbook of our lives but we chose which game to run? Lets suppose that every decision we made, destiny had a path that correlated to each. The most perfect way to imagine this life would be seeing yourself standing at a crossroads of infinite roads. There right beside you is fate/destiny/God with pen in hand, posed to highlight the path once you choose.
Basically, I am asking, if you were given the opportunity, would you choose the blue pill or the red pill?
I'm not sure the blue/red pill analogy is quite right here. If the blue pill is 100% fate, wouldn't the red pill be 100% free will?
ReplyDeleteEither way, I think you are right-on when you talk about the infinite crossroads, with God/fate standing beside you to guide the path. I would add that there are certain things that seem predestined to happen no matter what our choices are. To continue the road-map analogy, it is as though no matter how many different roads you do or could take to get there, there are only 1 or 2 bridges that cross the river.
After a quick re-reading, I misunderstood before that you had eliminated 100% free will as an option out-of-the-box, and the red/blue pill choice was a matter of degree of involvement of fate, rather than fate/free will. My apologies! ;)
ReplyDeleteTwo more observations. First, regardless of the involvement of God/fate in our lives, we have to own up to the responsibilities and consequences of the choices that we make. Second, to go completely meta on you, if everything is predestined, then your choice of the red pill & thinking that it is not all predestination was itself predestined. ;) <3 :P
If fate is the blue pill and freewill the red pill, I choose the red pill. If fate is what it is and is entirely deterministic in nature, what becomes the purpose of living because no matter what you do you cannot change or impact your world unless it's already scripted out. You couldn't eat healthier or exercise more to prolong health/life. You couldn't drive careful to avoid an accident. You would die when you were scripted to die, period. There is no empowerment, no accountability, no reason for existing. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteFreewill on the other hand means no one can predict all the permutations the ultimate outcome of an individual action might manifest. Life is chaos, freewill is part of that. Is there an ultimate order to it? Does it matter if you don't see or understand that order? Better to try to act in a manner that you can live with, feel good about and that gives hope, fulfillment or something else you perceive as positive to someone. To me, it's less about where you end up than the journey anyway. If I found the journey intrinsically valuable, then any judgement on where I ultimately land is just icing on the cake.