Do you belive life is predetermined/fate? **poll**

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Willoughbyva

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2001
3,267
0
0
I believe man does not have total free will and some things are predetermined. Man has some say in his life, but not totally.

Perry
 

Martin

Lifer
Jan 15, 2000
29,178
1
81
In theory, yes. If a person doesn't think that god meddles in this world, that it works on a set of natural laws, then there is no room for free-will - everything that'll happen has already been set in motion.

There is a practical kind of free-will though, since one can't know the future it gives you the illusion that you're in control.

 

Willoughbyva

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2001
3,267
0
0
Originally posted by: Martin
In theory, yes. If a person doesn't think that god meddles in this world, that it works on a set of natural laws, then there is no room for free-will - everything that'll happen has already been set in motion.

There is a practical kind of free-will though, since one can't know the future it gives you the illusion that you're in control.

I wish I could have expressed it this way. Tho I believe there are a few things that man has a say over, but not that many really. I like the idea of free will, but I don't think man actually has it to a great degree.

Perry
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,256
406
126
I'm not religious at all... and I never used to think so, but if you'd ask me now I say "maybe".
 
D

Deleted member 4644

I hate to break it to you all, but I am about 99.99% sure that everything is pre-determined. If you believe in the big bang, then you basically have to agree with me. Here's why:

The big bang released/produced huge amounts of mass and energy that were all interacting with each other, and continue to interact to this day, based on various forces, such as EM, gravity, nuclear, etc.

SO, if you had an infinitely powerful computer and infinitely powerful sensor at the moment after the big bang, you could read those forces, and in theory, you could predict/foretell that I would be writing this today.

If I am wrong, plse explain.
 

pennylane

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2002
6,077
1
0
Even if life was predetermined, how could we live life with that in mind? The only way I could live life and be functional was if I believed that I had the freedom to choose whether I eat chocolate or cookies 'n cream ice cream.
 

Cerpin Taxt

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
11,940
542
126
Originally posted by: LordSegan
I hate to break it to you all, but I am about 99.99% sure that everything is pre-determined. If you believe in the big bang, then you basically have to agree with me. Here's why:

The big bang released/produced huge amounts of mass and energy that were all interacting with each other, and continue to interact to this day, based on various forces, such as EM, gravity, nuclear, etc.

SO, if you had an infinitely powerful computer and infinitely powerful sensor at the moment after the big bang, you could read those forces, and in theory, you could predict/foretell that I would be writing this today.

If I am wrong, plse explain.

You are wrong, as far as we can tell. Quantum indeterminacy precludes you from making the calculations you describe.

The fact is, events which cannot be predicted happen with a great deal of regularity in the quantum world. You can argue that our inability to predict them is due to some inherent limitation in our observations, but before you do consider: what is the difference between causes that we can never observe and causes that don't exist?
 

Cerpin Taxt

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
11,940
542
126
I think the poll is incomplete.

My personal stance is that every potential reality actualizes, inevitably, and our conscious choices bring into our individual experiences those that have particular significance.

So, in a sense, everything is inevitable, and yet so are the alternatives. We choose which ones we experience, but there will also be the "other" versions of us that choose differently for each possible reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation