Do you believe in Destiny, karma and fate?

[thegreenyogi]

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I'm going to sound a bit schizo about this but I'm an empiricist working in a scientific and engineering field and so I lean towards determinism/fatalism.

There is at least a strong underlying belief behind the scientific method that we can begin to predict future events from antecedent ones, which leans towards the notion of an orderly, predictable, and deterministic universe.

So often people have asked me how I square that with accountability. How can we be accountable as human beings for what we do if we weren't capable of doing otherwise? And for me, it's simple: accountability doesn't have to be based on being hypothetically capable of having done otherwise in the past. If we fail to ever learn from our past mistakes, we're maladapted to survive in our environment, and so it is very useful for a human being to be accountable to optimize their survival regardless of whether they can help it or not. We also still need practically rehabilitate criminals and so forth to protect ourselves and society so we have to hold each other accountable whether we can help it or not.

On karma, I'm thoroughly against the concept. I don't believe in cosmic justice because the cosmos is silent about the precise rules and methods of punishment and reward. I'm also against vengeance and in favor of forgiveness and a lot of what people seem to associate as karma seems to stem from vengeful thinking.

If someone grieves me, I favor forgiving them, and not because I think the universe is going to punish them for what they did, but because I don't have the feeling that they need to be punished for me to feel better; I make myself feel better regardless of what happens to the other person. In fact, seeing them needlessly hurt will tend to make me feel worse, not better. Same idea for good deeds. I don't do good deeds because I expect the cosmos to reward me; I favor them because I think there's plenty of reward in the act itself.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

[*] We also still need [to] practically rehabilitate criminals [...]

A bit continued on fatalism/determinism, if we could hypothetically have done otherwise in the past, it's still a bit inconsequential to me since our consciousness still experiences a linear path through time. We can't experience all the hypothetical branches. So the past is still cemented in stone, so to speak, regardless of whether it could or could not have hypothetically occurred otherwise.

So ultimately it's about predictability of the future, and I like to subscribe to the notion that the more we understand about the universe, the more we'll be able to predict the future. It's a lot of how I tend to value scientific progress is that the more we progress, the better we'll be able to predict the consequences of our actions so that we can increasingly start working towards making better decisions that bring about better consequences.

[thegreenyogi]

Thank you for elaborating on this concept!! You always seem to get exactly the kinds of ways of thinking that I am looking for in my questions!! And I'm cheering you on for this particular one!!

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Oh cheers and thanks! 🤝 I'm kind of an oddball with my philosophical outlook so it's always something I'm thinking about here and there.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

One thing where I'm really odd is that as much as I am an empiricist, I'm not a materialist (in the philosophical sense, like perceiving only the existence of material like matter and energy and nothing else).

I believe very much in seeing a whole of something as more than the sum of its material parts. So I like to see a human being collectively as a "soul", and I'll even use this natural language often, except I'm not referring to something supernatural in my case. I'm referring to something poetic and beautiful.

It's something I find useful psychologically to find maximum meaning and beauty in the universe but it is immaterial in a sense, or at least not something we can describe in materialistic ways (at least until we develop much deeper understanding of our consciousness).

[Phoenix98]

Destiny is like a maze there's one entrance and there's one exit but there are many paths to take to get to the exit.

But just like a maze you can get lost, you can take the wrong path and it's possible you may not find that exit at all thus never fulfill the destiny laid out to you.

[sawno]

On the fence about it, but inclined to say yes. The issue is that those don't necessarily have to co-exist.

Simple example, I have dyscalculia but its not diagnosable since we discovered it to late and the tests are designed for young children. The government decided that every graduate should pass a mandatory mental calculations exam. It's physically impossible for me to beat it, which means I can't get a degree in anything ever.

What did I do? Private tutoring, lots of it to find ways to cope with the disability and pass that exam. I even invented entirely new ways to do math on my own to bypass some of the things my mind can't do. And this worked, I could calculate with my own method. Problem was, I needed to do multiple extra steps to do what people would normally do in an instant. This made the tests 5 times longer for me in practise compared to anyone else, so not only could I never finish it in time by the time i'd be half way I would be so mentally exhausted it was no longer possible for me to finish.

I took that final exam and I did the impossible. I passed. Not because I suddenly gained the capability to do it, but because they declared the test invalid and gave everyone a default pass that year.

It hints to this existing, but was it karma for trying so hard? Was it needed for my destiny? Or was it simply fate that there was always going to be this coincidence?

[Anonymous]

I believe in God's plan I also believe that just because God has a plan doesn't mean it doesn't require work from YOU. So fate? No. I think God will point you in the direction but it's up to you to go that direction. I believe God will keep giving you opportunities if it is his divine plan for you. Doesn't mean it won't change slightly. But fate? No.

[NathanDavis]

those my cousins...

I would not their gossipy tells 100% seriously... nope

[FreyaRed]

No. Reality as time and space continuum doesn't have any moral or thoughts.

[Nik1hil]

Of Course I believe in "Destiny".

That is usually the name of the Best Stripper.

[strateguy632]

not all these. a general destiny yes. others nay

[Agape93]

Destiny and fate, sure. Karma, no, it doesn't exist

[BLP11520]

Somewhat more of a biblical perspective you reap what you sow. Good to people goodness comes back you’re bad badness comes back, live by the sword, die by the sword things like that🤔

[MrDaveAPSI]

No, I don't. You control your own destiny, yu-gi-oh

[FunkyMonkee]

No! None of it's been of any help to me at all!!

[IslaTheWitch]

nope, I'm the master of my sea

[laly520]

not karma but in fate

[jahaims]

It doesn't exist

[eagle1951]

sure