| Fate vs. Choice
In my previous post, I talked about the purpose of life being simple: to choose. After having thought about what the purpose of life is, I also thought about fate versus choice.
How many of the decisions that we make come about as a result of the way in which our experiences (the way we were raised) have shaped us as people? I remember as a kid, i would sometimes hear things along the line of "well you would do the same thing if you were me". Now remembering that phrase, it really got me thinking. If i was another person, would I be in the same place as they are now? If I was born as William Gates, would I now be the incredibly successful computer genius that he is, or would I have run his existence into the ground? Suppose you were anyone else. If you were born someone else, would you have any choice but to make the same decisions that they have?
In this way I can see that perhaps it is by fate that we are all in the places that we currently are. Our states of being have been derived from the choices that we have made. However, why did we make such choices in the first place? Are we a mere by-product of events that have occured in our lifetimes?
What do you think? Fate, or choice? Why or why not? I need some more input that just my own thoughts. It is 3 AM here, so I hope my message is not confusing... |