Does Everything Happen For A Reason?

Fate works in mysterious ways, everyone makes choices out of their own free will which affects their

In life, ones fate is already set. The choices one makes influence everything else in their life. Often, fate throws unexpected situations at you and one must learn how to interpret the reasoning behind it. Many believers in fate think for every bad situation that occurs a positive one will follow. Fate is something that you can’t control. All actions whether they may be in the past, present, or future occur because they are meant to. Everything happens for a reason, and everyone handles situations differently.

Humans enjoy choices. Whether that choice is putting on a coat in the morning or choosing to participate in an exhilarating activity like skydiving, every decision starts with the idea of free will. The question of free will essentially asks who is in charge of our choices. While the origin of fate and free will remain a mystery, these ideas can be traced back for centuries and found in our daily lives: in our code of ethics, politics, and religions. Kurt Vonnegut wrestles with the coexistence of fate and free will, ultimately arguing fate dominants.

Although several aspects of life are predetermined, there are moments people have control over their fate. For example, no one has control over death, and even though many refuse their undeniable fate, it cannot be avoided. However, there are choices we make that mold our future, thus, changing our fate. On various occasions, there will be a fork in one’s path, and that person will have to choose which journey to take. In life, there are small, ineffective decisions you have to resolve, but there are also larger, life altering choices. Of course, others may feel the same way about fate, or entirely different. In fact, since the beginning of time, authors of literature have discussed their ideas on such matters, a few examples being Dr. Seuss, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allen Poe. These authors, famous for their thought provoking literary work, provide differing opinions on the fate and destiny of a human being through the use of allegory.

In the Poem “Certain Choices” by Richard Shelton, the cause and effect text structure develops the theme that some decisions can make way to subsequent choices. Mr. Shelton states “He died, of course, because of the way he lived”(Richard shelton). His friend made the choice to

Generally, fate refers to the development of events beyond a person’s control (Aurobindo). As such, a fatalist is a person who believes that whatever happens is, and always was, unavoidable. Moreover, such a person strongly believes that he or she has no control over what happens the next moment, tomorrow, next year, or several years to come. Free will, on the other hand, is formed by the power of sanction (Aurobindo). In other words, it is consent by the spirit that it shall not be bound but that its enjoyment should be bound by time, space, and causality and by the swabhava and the dharma (Aurobindo). To determine whether fate or free will controls human lives, it is important to objectively analyse, synthesizes, and respond to the “critical conversation” that the authors of class readings seem to be engaging with regard to this subject. In connection to this, humanity has been fascinated by fate and free will for a long time. Some philosophers in the Ancient Greek and the Middle Ages believed that free will influenced human destiny while others believed that fate was responsible for what befell mankind.

Molded by the choices we make, our lives can change drastically at any point in time. These decisions will either direct to the right or wrong path. Each path has a different destiny that could possibly take place. The natural surrounding influences one’s path. Curiosity, a common humane feeling, makes people wonder why something happens in a certain way. How people make their decisions and choices - a common question which passes through many people's minds. Every thought or action taken by an individual or a group, in one way or the other, influenced by the environment and the people around them.

Many would say that fate and free will are two opposing ideas. Though from a philosophical standpoint, they could be the same thing. Maybe free will has an affect on fate, or fate on free will. Or perhaps, everything is a self-fulfilling prophecy, where one believes in free will and acts accordingly, only to fulfill his own fate. In reality, anything that occurs could be considered fate, and not a result of free will, despite that only free will has tangible evidence of causation; choices made.

    Fate seems to defy humanity at every turn.  A man may have his life planned out to the last second, but then some random force intervenes and he dies the second after he has completed his life plan.  Some believe in fate, believing that our lives are predetermined from the moment we are born.  Other people believe that everything is random, the result of some god rolling the dice in a universal poker game.  Still other people believe that each and every person is in total control of his or her destiny, every step of the way.  Who is to say which viewpoint is false?  Every culture has a unique perception of the role of fate in our lives, and no group has the "right answer," simply a

People may say “Everything happens for a reason.” And while this is often believed to an extent, some may say it is also up to themselves to drive their lives forward. A great example of fate vs. actions is the play Macbeth. in the play, there is a constant theme about whether plot points are due to prophecy, or because of the choices of a man, drunk with power.

A military leader named Napoleon Bonaparte once said “ There is no such thing as an accident; it is fate misnamed. “ In The Pearl Kino had a perfect plan of his family's future, little did he know fate had other plans. Others may say that life is governed by choice but I say it's governed by fate. For many reasons I believe that life's events are already set in stone. Three main reasons why people should believe that life is governed by fate is that you can't control the problems that come your way, death, or the ending result of love. Realizing that everything that happens in your life was meant to happen, makes us accept our past, and what's coming in the future. All in all I believe that life is governed by fate.

The argument of fate vs. free will is a very difficult subject to have a debate on. There is little to no proof on either subject, which is why this will be a never ending discussion. The official definition of free will is “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion”(Merriam - Webster). The official definition of fate is “the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power”(Merriam - Webster). In this essay, I will be comparing and contrasting free will and fate, using the following readings, movies, and sources: Jackson Shirleys, The Lottery, The Matrix, The Myth of Oedipus, You Probably Have No Free Will.

Choices are made constantly, every day by everyone. When a choice is made, no matter who makes it, it can impact any one. These impacts can be emotional and possibly even physical, depending on the choices made and the severity of them. All choices in the world are linked with a butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is the concept that even the smallest thing, like the flap of a butterfly’s wing, can cause something huge. Therefore, any choice a person makes can impact someone else in any way possible, big or small.

One of the most pondered questions in human existence is whether our lives are determined by forces which are beyond our control or by our own free will. It is widely believed that one's own destiny is created by fate. However, some also consider the possibility that one's own choices can determine the reality of one's existence. In Harry Potter, JK Rowling uses fate and choice as forces which shape the events revolving around her protagonist, Harry Potter, as well as the other characters in the story. Rowling does not side with one idea over the other, but instead, argues that both fate and choice are significant factors that determine the events which happen during the course of an individual's development. Although Rowling lays out

Free Will Everything that happens has a cause and every cause has an effect. Effect strictly follows cause every time. This is an necessary logical tool for humans in understanding the world around them. Because humans understand the concept of time it means that they can then understand that some things always happen after other things.