Do you believe in fate/kismet?

Scarim Coral

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Yeah I believed in fate, luck, karma and destiny well to a certain extent with the last two. Granted I don't believe you are bind to your fate or destiny as you can change it and also I don't heavily rely on them well except for luck and fate when it come to love (I let love come to me although I could be just be lazy).
 

Dangit2019

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I can't say yes or no to that definitively, because that's a question that I, being a bit naive and inexperienced in life, can not pin down with the utmost confidence. I mean, this is a question that stumps some of the smartest philosophers.

As for now, I will live under the pretense that my decisions, good and bad, have an affect on me and those around me.
 

cerebreturns

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I believe in the righteousness of the Lord God and a path he has laid out for us. You do not have to go on that path, but that is a choice and he knows if you will make it or not, meaning that functionally it is a set fate. Gods punishment of bad deeds is not something as simple as karma, it is not tit for tat.

In a more theological sense to assume that mortals could understand the greater reasoning's behind a higher being, or completely understand a force, is not logical...at all. Even in science we find constantly that the forces we believe we understand we don't completely...just partially.
 

VeryOddGamer

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The way I see it is that the main driving force in the universe is pure random chance. Some rise to the elite of society with it, some fall to depression due to it.
But no, I don't believe in destiny, there is no way "things should be".
 

deviltry

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luck, fate, destiny, kismet and what not. Is there such a thing as karma? Do you believe in these things?
No, no, no and no.
"Kiekvienas esame savo likimo kalvis" - each of us are our own destinies blacksmith, as they say here.

I do somewhat believe in karma - that there is balance in universe. Ofcourse not this strict "kick a puppy - get robbed" way, but if you're doing very good now, there will be hard times ahead. But it's just life.
 

The Funslinger

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Katatori-kun said:
I have a lucky pair of boxers. They are lucky in name only. I call them lucky because I like them more than the others.
So you're saying they get to spend more time than your other boxers cradling your sweaty balls? Wow, they are lucky :p

OT: I'm a Taoist. Therefore Tao is a central tenant in my outlook on the world. It does differ from fate in key ways, but that's my answer.
 

mrblakemiller

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On-Topic: Yes. The existence of an omniscient God requires fate on some level. That said, I do believe fate happens as a result of human choices and not just divine ones. This would be Armenianism, for those interested.

Also, here is a short story on fate, specifically on meeting the love of your life, that I think is utterly fantastic. You should read it. It's only 1,400 words.

http://www.geocities.jp/yoshio_osakabe/Haruki/Books/100percent-N.html
 

Olas

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I believe in fate in the deterministic sense, that there is only one future and past.

But since it's computationally impossible to predict the future I hardly see how it matters.

If you mean in the mystical sense that the universe will bend to produce a certain outcome regardless of the intentions or actions of sentient beings like me, then I'd say you're stuck in the past, like pre-enlightenment times past.
 

bojackx

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Yes, in the scientific sense at least. Everything in the universe moves along a pre-determined path, so I suppose you could call future events "fate".
 

secretkeeper12

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I personally lean towards determinism, in the sense that our decisions are based upon our experiences in life. However, I do have a few problems with it, namely that the theory is designed in such a way as to be impossible to disprove. Any experiments would have to be 100% precise, a very unreasonable goal. Even if such a hypothetical project was carried out successfully, the results could still be dismissed without a second thought. Then again, I suppose the scientific method can't really be applied to philosophy.


mrblakemiller said:
Also, here is a short story on fate, specifically on meeting the love of your life, that I think is utterly fantastic. You should read it. It's only 1,400 words.

http://www.geocities.jp/yoshio_osakabe/Haruki/Books/100percent-N.html
Meh. I found it to be fairly predictable, and doesn't really provide much insight into the reality of the situation. Plus all the fridge logic (how did the narrator know the girl was the same one he met from 14 years before in a single glance?).
 

Hosker

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No, I'm not a fatalist. I see the future as having an infinite amount of possibilities.
 

ImperialSunlight

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I don't believe anything, since empirical evidence is inadequate for knowledge and all other evidence's existence is questionable. However, it does make sense, based on the principle of cause and effect that all things are predetermined by previous situations. I don't believe in cause and effect, though, so all I know is that I don't know. And if I know that I don't know, belief is nonsensical.
 

R4ptur3

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I believe in fate. None of this you are my true love it must be fate crap, just good old shit's gonna happen fate and there ain't much you can do about it but head on forward. We all choose our paths and choices but theres no middle ground really, you either do things or you don't and regardless of the choice we don't know what will happen until we do it. In my opinion luck also exists. For example some people are born rich and don't have to do anything for the rest of their lives. sure there families might of had to work hard or whatever but they didn't, they just reap the rewards. Others can be rich etc but a turn of bad luck can change their lives (Like batman!).
 

Lugbzurg

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tippy2k2 said:
The "Why are the cops always going after me" girl who has five DWI's on his record
...!? That is some rubbish luck. I've spent nearly 19 used to being male. Suddenly turning female for some unexplained reason would be most awkward and pretty horrid luck.
No, I do not hate women. It would just throw anyone's life completely off-track if their gender were to change suddenly.
 

blazearmoru

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I believe in chance and with chance comes the notion of luck. Though I believe chance is simply just an outcome we current don't know yet. It is fate yet to be unraveled. I believe that chance is what we call things we simply do not have enough information to tell exactly 100% what the outcome will be and that when we do have that information, chance will cease to exist. I believe, chance is subjective to the beholder.

I believe in fate. I believe in it to the fact that nothing I can do will change it.
I believe in karma. I believe that karma is a chain of consequences. I believe karma is the driving force of fate.

Yes I understand that I altered the definition of karma and luck.
 

tippy2k2

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Lugbzurg said:
tippy2k2 said:
The "Why are the cops always going after me" girl who has five DWI's on his record
...!? That is some rubbish luck. I've spent nearly 19 used to being male. Suddenly turning female for some unexplained reason would be most awkward and pretty horrid luck.
No, I do not hate women. It would just throw anyone's life completely off-track if their gender were to change suddenly.
[small]No! Uh oh....it was.....uh.......shit, I can't admit I made a mistake on the Internet; they'll never let it go.....uh.........[/small]

OH! Have you ever had Five DWI's in Minnesota? If not, that's what happens when you have five; the government forces you to have a sex change.

[small]Nice! I doubt he's from Minnesota...it's the perfect crime. No way I know of for him to check that I made it up...[/small]
 

GistoftheFist

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Karma doesn't exist. Period.

There's no invisible force hovering around our lives righting wrongs and evening out injustices. Bad things happen to good people and lazy, violent, and dishonest people flourish, that's just the way life is. I'm really sick of hearing about it to be honest. The first few times I heard people talk about the concept of karma, I had a "yeah, that'd be nice" sort of reaction, but now it's getting ridiculous the sheer scale of people who believe "karma" is an real-life entity. Each person's definition of it also seems to change to suit his/her needs as well. I can't even so much as get teamkilled in Counterstrike without a butthurt opponent screeching KARMA! afterwords.

People who believe in this strike me as the same people who watch those ghost hunter programs on TV and take them seriously. People want to think that "fate" exists and that "there's a plan for everyone" because they don't like the idea of having no control over their lives. That's why when a tragedy happens, people pray to not feel helpless. The world is a random clusterfuck of circumstance.
 

Supertegwyn

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I think that fate, kismet, Karma, and the rest of it are all meaningless bullshit invented to give people hope.
 

Spinozaad

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I'd love to, because it would absolve me from my own responsibilities.

I see social reality as inherently chaotic. It's not random, but neither can it only be reduced to physical processes. Human reality is more than the sum of its parts, but that doesn't make it mystical.

As someone noted, if you are an asshole all your life, people will seek your comeuppance. If you live a saintly life, yet fall upon hard times, many people will feel sympathy with your plight. That's because people are both spiteful, selfish creatures and social beings. Unlike the worlds created by BioWare, people aren't just renegades, paragons or colourness neutral; they're all three depending on the circumstances.

Anyway, no. I don't believe in fate.