One of my favourite mythological stories is Oedip, because it speaks of the inescapability of destiny, and I think that seeing how somebody is doing everything he can to change its destiny, only to reinforce it even more makes for a good, though tragic story. Talking about this with a friend set me thinking... am I a predeterminist? I'd say not overall, though I am, up to an extent. More precisely, I think that the resources and the environment we are born in largely determine our capabilities afterwards, but I believe in those people that can challenge the odds and change their destiny. There is no "impossible" in my mind.. there is only "I don't want it hard enough". And I believe everyone can achieve whatever they set their mind to.
The only things I think are prederetmined in our lives are our family, out genetic inheritance from our parents, and the place and social environment we are born with. It has been proven that these factors affect the way our personality is shaped at a young age. At this early stage, they largely determine the opportunities which will be available to us in the future and our capability to seize these opportunities. A child born in Africa, in a family which lives with less than $1 per capita per day will clearly not have the same opportunities as a child born in a (even poor) family in Western Europe. Again, a child born with a physical handicap or a mental disability will enjoy fewer options than a healthy child. However, I think our true worth as human beings lies in being able to achieve more than our potentialities and overcoming our limits... achieving the things we really want even if everybody says they're impossible. This is what character is about: strong will, ambition, self-control, and a little bit of madness. Men should be visionaries and see ahead of others what they can do with the resources they've been endowed with, and do that better than most people would. It is a bit like management, and a bit like gambling.
But if we can carve our own destiny.. then how come some things can be predicted beforehand? Things which are, by no means, mere coincidences? I am pretty skeptical about this to be honest, but some things make me wonder. A few well-done TV shows on Discovery, some stories from people around me about premonition-like dreams, and recently, talking to a friend who actually saw some of the things predicted to him happen, with little chance of that being mere coincidence... To what extent can our lives, be predicted then, if our destiny is dynamic? We change it every second by the choices we make, and by choosing one path we completely forego so many others... And if it can be predicted, to what extent can it be changed?
I watched "If Only" about a week ago, which made me ponder more on this theme. It's a movie about a businessman who, after his girlfriend dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight, gets the chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed. (source Wikipedia) During the movie, everybody, even him, seems to believe the first day was more like a premonitory dream. But did he get this dream in order to change things, or was it more so that he'll do everything to fulfill what should, in fact, have happened from the very beginning? Did he manage to change anything, by the fact that she did not die, or did he only follow his destiny? Perhaps it was him who should have died from the very beginning... and this dream was sent to him only to help him tell her how much he loved her, before he left. I tend to interpret the movie more like this... but in this case, destiny would be a closed circle, we would live in a sphere and we could have different roads to get from one end to another, but the final destination would always be the same. And I do not want to believe that.
PS. For a beautiful story about harshly changing one's destiny, even if for a short while, read "Flowers for Algernon" :)
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First of all, Flowers for Algernon is a great short story.
Secondly, have you heard the theory that the Protestant work ethic is responsible for capitalism flourishing in America? It goes along with this post about predeterminism...
Hmm, how does that theory go? I don't think I heard it but I think you could develop it, in a comment here or maybe in a post on your blog? :D
As you wish... Please check my blog for your response.
Although I should add that the Protestant Work Ethic has to deal with a specific variation of predeterminism: predestination...
hey!
you know this is one of my main thoughts - the idea of predeterminism and its link with the protestant ethic - see Max Weber's theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism
this idea of the destiny - protestant idea - comes in contradiction with the orthodox ethic. if you agree with what Weber says, if we believed in capitalism, we would believe in the protestant ethic. i recognize the causality is not that straight, but still it could bring in discussion in the guys who believe in the money power (everybody??!) could still be affiliated to the orthodox ethic? not that clear...
Very interesting topic! If I get this right, then according to the protestant beliefs, you should work hard and prosper economically to make sure you reach "Heaven", right? But in this case, there is no predeterminism... it is still the man creating his after-life destiny, by working hard now while on earth. If things were predetermined, then no matter what somebody did, if he was chosen to go to heaven, then he would be economically successful. What I mean is that, if indeed everything was predetermined, then why would men even bother to work hard and make money? They'd just have to sit back, relax, or at least try one business or two and see if they work... if they were chosen, then those would work even without effort; if not, however, then any effort they'd put into those economic activities would be futile, right? So where is the incentive to work hard, to struggle? However, people did struggle, which is why they exchanged goods and ultimately created capitalism. So they should have thought they can do something at least to change that outcome...
I also tend to side with man creating one's destiny, rather than being born into it. I've seen so many people make it from rags to riches - or, better yet, from a small provincial town in Eastern Europe to Wall Street - that it's hard for me to think about predeterminism in one's lives.
About the Protestant ethic, I don't see it as predeterminism but as a set of good societal values (coincidentally bred from religion) that pushed people faster ahead. I'm sure that values like individualism, thrift, hard work, risk-taking and belief in one's self can work wonders in any type of society that adopts them.
In the protestant case I think it was more of a self-fulfilling prophecy. People were told the chosen ones are those who get rich, so therefore they had a strong incentive to work hard and become rich, thus "the chosen ones".
Btw, I could not help thinking of the quote in CIPE @ Mishu: "The utmost purpose for every individual is to realise all his potentialities and become completely himself." - Irene Dunn feat. Adriana Tepelea :)
Hehe, Laur, that quote also stuck with me since then.. kind of like a motto :)
I think it's a little bit of both, I've thought about this a lot too lately. I do believe we each make our own destinies, it's a matter of attitude, expectations and making things happen, however there are instances when you can really tell that something was meant to happen, meaning destiny kicked in. So I guess it goes both ways.
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