Topic: Fate

[Stevie93]

Of course not. It's a default human position to try and link events together in order to make some sense out of an outcome, whether positive or negative. There are infinite chains of events that occur in a day. By coincidence one might lead to the scenario that you're late for work and then avoid a fatal accident. But those two events aren't, and never were, linked. What about the other countless chains of events than occurred that you chose not to consider simply because their outcomes weren't so momentous?

[Anywhichwayucan]

Think of the chain of events that led to your birth, from the beginning of time.


Was it fate, or did it just happen?

[SMD]

Fate is something you have to be proactive in.

[Seebab]

I didn't use to believe in it, but the circumstances in which I met my current girlfriend after months of being lost in my own world, have sort of changed my mind. The chances of me meeting her were just so unlikely but it happened and she saved me in more ways than one. She's one of the most special people I've ever met. I don't know how the relationship will end, but just getting to meet her and know her have made me a better a person and I thank God, fate, chance, whatever you want to call it everyday for having the pleasure to have known her.

It could be a strange, unlinked series of events to some of you but I'm going down the LOST route and I believe that I met her for a reason.

[Enemy]

Nope. Although I was tempted to after a bad trip once.

[Rhi]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Roy Hodgson just blamed England's loss on fate. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Mouth]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Roy Hodgson just blamed England's loss on fate. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Not arguing with him on that one, as soon as he was named manager it was written in the stars

[RideTheWalrus]

No.

You make it how you want it, by being proactive instead of waiting about for it to fall on your lap.

[IAmZlatan]

No

[bleedsred1978]

In a positive sense Yes.

In a negative sense No.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Fate? Wait mate. Did you sate on fate? Or were you late mate when you attempted to rate fate and its insidious attempts to enslave you and bait you and crate  you off to some preannounced and decided outcome of your life? Fate? You can shove your fate. Slam the gate and wait til the cows have gone to mate. Fate? I don't rate fate.

[corkboy]

For individuals? No. There may be some sort of predestined order to existence, on a very grand scale, the universe expanding, decay and all that but the idea that one person or another is fated to do something or have something happen to them is pure wishful thinking.

[Andy @ Allerton]

For individuals? No. There may be some sort of predestined order to existence, on a very grand scale, the universe expanding, decay and all that but the idea that one person or another is fated to do something or have something happen to them is pure wishful thinking.

Wishful thinking? More like horrific thinking. To imagine that you have absolutely no choice in anything ever is the worst you could imagine for a thinking being.

[corkboy]

Wishful thinking? More like horrific thinking. To imagine that you have absolutely no choice in anything ever is the worst you could imagine for a thinking being.

No, it's wishful thinking because if you believe in fate, you believe in some sort of controlling agency. It's basically the same concept as religion, where people need to know there's someone in charge.

[Andy @ Allerton]

No, it's wishful thinking because if you believe in fate, you believe in some sort of controlling agency. It's basically the same concept as religion, where people need to know there's someone in charge.

Bizarre. You've clearly never heard of the concept of free will. I can't talk about other religions but Christianity is quite 'up there' on free will.

[Red_Mist]

Not sure what's meant by "fate". If we mean destiny and some grand overall order to things, then yes. We are all destined to die, the sun is destined to burn out etc., but that journey is influenced more by chaos theory (which some would say is really just fate on a smaller scale). I probably need someone else to explain (or trash) what I'm trying to say.

In the meantime, it can be used as a convenient cop out for annoyingly lazy sods like myself. If there's a problem my usual response is, "let's just wait and see what happens"...so i suppose i rely on fate all the time in that sense. I'm generally wary of interfering in the natural course of events. It takes an emergency to snap me into action 

[Andy @ Allerton]

Not sure what's meant by "fate". If we mean destiny and some grand overall order to things, then yes. We are all destined to die, the sun is destined to burn out etc., but that journey is influenced more by chaos theory (which some would say is really just fate on a smaller scale). I probably need someone else to explain (or trash) what I'm trying to say.

In the meantime, it can be used as a convenient cop out for annoyingly lazy sods like myself. If there's a problem my usual response is, "let's just wait and see what happens"...so i suppose i rely on fate all the time in that sense. I'm generally wary of interfering in the natural course of events. It takes an emergency to snap me into action 

Waiting and seeing what happens isn't fate. You've made a concious decision to not do anything yourself and therefore have affected the outcome by specific inaction.

[Kovai Red]

If something goes our way, it is our hard work and luck. If not, it is called fate. So I dont believe in that.

[scatman]

No, just a simplistic ideal for such a complex life

[Red_Mist]

Waiting and seeing what happens isn't fate. You've made a concious decision to not do anything yourself and therefore have affected the outcome by specific inaction.

True enough i suppose. Not quite nailed down the definition of fate here have we.

Btw, I'm all for positively influencing a situation, just generally very wary of unpredictable side-effects. Always thought i'd make a decent conservationist. The world of conservation is littered with man's attempts to positively influence an ecosystem or species, only to end up screwing it up even more.

[Stevie93]

For individuals? No. There may be some sort of predestined order to existence, on a very grand scale, the universe expanding, decay and all that but the idea that one person or another is fated to do something or have something happen to them is pure wishful thinking.

Well put.

[blurred]

Yep.

A few things have made me believe in it, mainly the fat that I was out of work a year ago, depressed after not long splitting up with a girl, my mates all falling out left right and center with me being dragged into the center of everything, my  family going through a tough time, then on the way to a job interview for the TJ Hughes warehouse (now closed,) I had a car crash.

That crash made me miss the interview, which made me have to go back another day to the Agency, meaning I got my current job where I'm happy, I then met my current GF who I'm happy with (she's reading this so I've got to say it ) and my family are happy, all seemed to happen after the crash. It was fate that I'd left the house late that day, it's fate that the crash made my mum and dad stop arguing and focus on getting everything sorted again.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc at its finest.

Not fate, mon ami.

[Mad Max]

Sometimes.

We haven beaten Everton in 4 Fa Cup Semi Finals and gone on to lose all the Finals.

[AisoD]

I believe in fate but i also think there's choice involved. I imagine it like there being a number of parallel worlds and in each universe you make a different choice which all lead to different consequences in those parallel worlds.

It makes sense in my head 

[Mouth]

I believe in fate but i also think there's choice involved. I imagine it like there being a number of parallel worlds and in each universe you make a different choice which all lead to different consequences in those parallel worlds.

It makes sense in my head 

Its called the many worlds theory, I alluded to it earlier when I mentioned Schrödinger's cat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many_worlds_theory

[Stevie93]

I believe in fate but i also think there's choice involved. I imagine it like there being a number of parallel worlds and in each universe you make a different choice which all lead to different consequences in those parallel worlds.

It makes sense in my head 

Surely fate and your interpretation of many world theory can't exist together. If there are different permutations of reality according to different choices, then there are infinite permutations of reality. And if there are infinite permutations of reality, then the idea of fate becomes obsolete, since any choice you make is possible, and will lead to a separate parallel world.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Surely fate and your interpretation of many world theory can't exist together. If there are different permutations of reality according to different choices, then there are infinite permutations of reality. And if there are infinite permutations of reality, then the idea of fate becomes obsolete, since any choice you make is possible, and will lead to a separate parallel world.

Not just probable. Inescapable. And for such a breaking to occur - it would happen at every quantum event. Not just every 'decision'

[lazzathered]

I believe in fate but i also think there's choice involved. I imagine it like there being a number of parallel worlds and in each universe you make a different choice which all lead to different consequences in those parallel worlds.

It makes sense in my head 

That's kind of how I feel a lot of the time. It's how I comfort myself when times are low - "cheer up fella, OTHER you decided to go for it and shag that hot girl". And then I get depressed that other versions of me that don't even exist are more successful 

[Mouth]

Hey man, I am that Lister!

[Billy The Kid.]

Yep.

A few things have made me believe in it, mainly the fat that I was out of work a year ago, depressed after not long splitting up with a girl, my mates all falling out left right and center with me being dragged into the center of everything, my  family going through a tough time, then on the way to a job interview for the TJ Hughes warehouse (now closed,) I had a car crash.

That crash made me miss the interview, which made me have to go back another day to the Agency, meaning I got my current job where I'm happy, I then met my current GF who I'm happy with (she's reading this so I've got to say it ) and my family are happy, all seemed to happen after the crash. It was fate that I'd left the house late that day, it's fate that the crash made my mum and dad stop arguing and focus on getting everything sorted again.

See, this is the problem I have with "fate believers". You make absolutely massive assumptions that any chain of events that lead to an upturn in personal good fortune is down to "fate". Like it was meant to happen that fate chose you, lucky you, all because it was "meant to be"

You'd have to wonder though, what makes you so deserving of "fate" and its kindly and timely intervention in your life? What's so special about you? Why are you deserving of fates good hand while others in this world are dying and starving and riddled with diseases amongst other harrowing things? Why did "fate" decide to deal those poor souls such a shitty hand?

Or maybe it was just, you know, non predetermined events that just led to a good situation in your case, and a bad one in the cases of the less fortunate. The good old luck of the draw?

[Immoral King Brian Blessed]

Luck of the draw, Billy? So you do believe in fate

[jason23]

I believe that all things happen for a reason.....some examples from my life:-

When I was around 14 in town with a mate I met a gorgeous young girl and her friend. She was tall, long dark hair and said her name was Zeta (named after her grandmother). We spent an hour or so just talking and we really clicked and then arranged to meet up later that week but something happened and we didn't meet or contact each other again. I can't confirm this but years later when a young girl from Swansea became famous after being in the Darling Buds of May, I was convinced that the girl I had met years ago was none other than Catherine Zeta Jones (named Zeta after her Gran - there can't be too many Zetas running around Swansea who were named after their Gran).

My teachers reckoned I was set for OxBridge but something happened with my father and I went right off the rails at school and barely scraped a few O Levels. That meant that instead of going off to Uni, I stayed in Swansea and met Debs and the rest is history. There is probably no way we would have ever met if I had gone the other way.

The other night, some idiot in an Audi A3 tried to cut me up in some roadworks and forced me to slam my brakes on. He sped off but I caught up with him at the next lights just as they changed and he sped off again - straight through a nice shiny Gatso and "FLASH" so hopefully the c*nt will get his speeding ticket and a £60 fine.

[corkboy]

I believe that all things happen for a reason.....some examples from my life:-

When I was around 14 in town with a mate I met a gorgeous young girl and her friend. She was tall, long dark hair and said her name was Zeta (named after her grandmother). We spent an hour or so just talking and we really clicked and then arranged to meet up later that week but something happened and we didn't meet or contact each other again. I can't confirm this but years later when a young girl from Swansea became famous after being in the Darling Buds of May, I was convinced that the girl I had met years ago was none other than Catherine Zeta Jones (named Zeta after her Gran - there can't be too many Zetas running around Swansea who were named after their Gran).

You may have once met someone who turned out famous.

My teachers reckoned I was set for OxBridge but something happened with my father and I went right off the rails at school and barely scraped a few O Levels. That meant that instead of going off to Uni, I stayed in Swansea and met Debs and the rest is history. There is probably no way we would have ever met if I had gone the other way.

You did badly in school and that affected how the rest of your life turned out.

The other night, some idiot in an Audi A3 tried to cut me up in some roadworks and forced me to slam my brakes on. He sped off but I caught up with him at the next lights just as they changed and he sped off again - straight through a nice shiny Gatso and "FLASH" so hopefully the c*nt will get his speeding ticket and a £60 fine.

A speeding driver got caught.

None of those things have anything to do with fate, which is the belief that certain things are predestined to occur.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Luck of the draw, Billy? So you do believe in fate

Billy! Don't be a hero!! Don't be a fool with your life!!

[rowan_d]

I believe that all things happen for a reason.....some examples from my life:-

When I was around 14 in town with a mate I met a gorgeous young girl and her friend. She was tall, long dark hair and said her name was Zeta (named after her grandmother). We spent an hour or so just talking and we really clicked and then arranged to meet up later that week but something happened and we didn't meet or contact each other again. I can't confirm this but years later when a young girl from Swansea became famous after being in the Darling Buds of May, I was convinced that the girl I had met years ago was none other than Catherine Zeta Jones (named Zeta after her Gran - there can't be too many Zetas running around Swansea who were named after their Gran).

My teachers reckoned I was set for OxBridge but something happened with my father and I went right off the rails at school and barely scraped a few O Levels. That meant that instead of going off to Uni, I stayed in Swansea and met Debs and the rest is history. There is probably no way we would have ever met if I had gone the other way.

The other night, some idiot in an Audi A3 tried to cut me up in some roadworks and forced me to slam my brakes on. He sped off but I caught up with him at the next lights just as they changed and he sped off again - straight through a nice shiny Gatso and "FLASH" so hopefully the c*nt will get his speeding ticket and a £60 fine.

That's just a couple of anecdotes and a bit of backstory. There's no strange coincidence that could possibly pertain to fate

[The Gulleysucker]

Billy! Don't be a hero!! Don't be a fool with your life!!

There's something out there waiting for us... and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die.

[jason23]

You may have once met someone who turned out famous.

You did badly in school and that affected how the rest of your life turned out.

A speeding driver got caught.

None of those things have anything to do with fate, which is the belief that certain things are predestined to occur.

Ok, the first one is a stretch.
The second one is a series of events that meant I took a different path to the one I was originally on. Without going into too many details, things happened because of choices that I made and my life turned out like it has...
The third one is a twat getting his just desserts.

[redgriffin73]

I belive in it to an extent. I dont believe that everything has a reason, but in certain situations and certain peoples lives, fate seems to play a part. The thing is, nobody knows when 'fate' happens to them. For example youre about to leave your house and drive to work, but you left something in the house. You go back inside and this costs you 1-2 minutes. Before those 1-2 minutes, you could have had an accidident on your way to work, but the extra time made you a bit late so your drive to work was uneventful. No one recognises this kind of fate but it could be going on all the time?

I often think this when I'm running late to drive somewhere and then along the way I see an accident and it makes me think I could've been caught up in it if I'd been on time.

[Immoral King Brian Blessed]

And if you leave late and have an accident because of that are you blaming fate then?

[rowan_d]

The second one is a series of events that meant I took a different path to the one I was originally on. Without going into too many details, things happened because of choices that I made and my life turned out like it has...

Isn't that free will, the polar opposite of fate?