Fate and Free Will | The Probabilist . com

Fate and Free Will November 7, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Personal Growth, Purpose, Responsibility, Time, Vision, Leadership , trackback

For a long time I lived under the notion that everything that happens, simply does so because it’s supposed to. Everything about my experiential, emotional and rational growth followed a very linear pattern so it seemed like a reasonable belief system to adopt. In fact, it was the first belief system that I consciously created to explain my progress as a being in this world.

The first time this belief system, call it fate or fatalism, got critically judged was when I joined the Finnish Defence Forces. I can honestly say that I had no expectations, prejudice and extremely limited knowledge of what this army thing was going to be like. Over here it’s mandatory for men and optional for women and the time served is between 180 and 362 days. Anyway, in a sense the whole concept initially just struck me as something that you simply have to go to, just like school, and everyone’s doing or done it. So creating expectations for it in advance seemed pointless.

After my first day as a recruit was over and I was lying on my bunk at night it hit me that I was meant to get the most out of my time in this institution in the form of leadership training. There was no question about it, leading people really struck a chord in me. But there was another thought that arose that night. This time it felt more like a conscious choice. It wasn’t simply destiny lighting up the next streetlight on my path in life. It was a crossroad. For the first time free will showed its face and told me that I had made a choice strictly on my own behalf and not on anyone else’s.

Do you see the contradiction? How can I believe both in fate and free will at the same time? It’s absurd! Or is it? The reason you might think like this is if your mind is limited to either/or thinking. This belief states that the human mind shouldn’t or can’t hold two opposite views simultaneously. You need to realize that you’re capable of so much more. One way to break this assumption is by questioning if two choices/outcomes/concepts really are each others opposites. In this case I don’t see that they are.

In order to better grasp why, imagine a time focused perspective on explaining why both concepts can co-exist. Right now you can choose the free will approach and do all that you want in your lifetime until your consciousness abandons your physical body and you experience no more. Right before this happens you can think “So, that’s how my life turned out”. This example truly is fate in its completion. At that moment you can no longer alter your fate. Denying the belief that fate exists is like saying that nothing is going to happen from this point onwards. Free will gives you the ability to do anything you want and fate will let you know what that something was in the end. However, you are the one that also has to define when an end truly is an end and what happens next - that’s another topic for another day.

I’ve found it really empowering to hold both concepts simultaneously in my reality. With free will in my pocket I create the best possible life my abilities and imagination can and destiny will ultimately prove how it all came to pass. Having them both really kicks your life and life’s purpose up a notch. I was one of the few conscripts that didn’t count the days to freedom out from the army. In retrospect it was a really motivational period in my life. You too have the power to feel motivated and excited every morning when the alarm goes off. It’s your choice to create your fate.