Is it all mapped out for us?

[Ijustlovefood]

I know there is currently a thread about what happens when we die which I find interested but I'd like to ask people's thoughts on if you believe in fate/your life being mapped out already?

[Trills]

Nope. Not in the slightest.

Who or what would be doing the mapping?

[ladystarkers]

Don’t think so

[Ijustlovefood]

I don't no, some higher power/source. Who knows. I wonder if anyone has had moments in their life where they have just felt it was 'meant' somehow.

[Ijustlovefood]

know

[Trills]

Sometimes things feel like that. But it doesn't mean they are. They just feel that way because human brains like to try to see patterns.

[LemonysSnicket]

I’m really bad for thinking that Karma will come and bite me in the arse, or that I’ll run out of good luck, but I think believing in fate is basically a way that people persuade themselves that nothing they do will change their lives outcome. If you believe everything is determined ... what’s the point in trying? Surely it’s just happen?

Spinoza and Nietzsche write interestingly about determinism.

[Ijustlovefood]

Who knows

[winterwonderlandy]

I definitely believe that some higher power knows the path our life will take, and that we should believe that things happen for reasons that we might not understand at the moment, but which may become clear in the future.

[Heatherjayne1972]

But if it’s all mapped out then we have no free choice
And clearly humans do have free choices We choose stuff everyday
The clothes we wear our food Jobs spouses
So how can it be?

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

And why would any “higher power” bother with that? There are 7 billion people in the world. BILLION. Has every detail of every little plan for every single person been planned? From a piece of toast for breakfast in Japan to the purchase of a kitten in Sumatra and on and on and on... A bunch of people pointlessly existing with no free will whatsoever.

Our human ability to spot and predict patterns helps us survive. It’s so essential that we see them even when they’re not there. In this case it’s simply not there.

[Thistlebelle]

No.

We have free will.

[losingmymindiam]

If everything is predetermined by a higher power why do some people have absolutely crap lives through no fault of their own while others (who may or may not be deserving) have unbelievably good lives? Why would a higher power decide that if you are born in certain parts of the word, particularly as a woman, your life is destined to be poverty stricken or that you will only make it to a certain age because you die from eg malaria? It just doesn’t make sense.

[Vitalogy]

I was reading about the idea of our soul choosing the life we're born into, even if it's a so called bad life and the physical body suffers, the individual soul developes and grows/learns. It also said that there is free will within that frame.

[VanillaSugarGlider]

Some interesting views here. I think you make your own luck to a certain extent i.e. if you're constantly on your phone and step in front of a car without looking them that is your own fault that you were hit by a car, it's not bad luck.

But for a healthy, fit, young mum to develop a tumour and die young seems grossly unfair when older, chain-smoking whisky swilling butter guzzling people live until they're 85.

[Wanderwall]

I believe in determinism and that time is an illusion.

So, in the same way you can't change the past, the future is also fixed.

I only believe this on an intellectual level though. So, in practice, I can't help acting normally like everyone else who believes in free will.

I don't believe in a higher power though. I think everything is pre-determined by the laws of physics.

[Wanderwall]

If the physical world is determined by physics, and our thoughts are produced by our physical brains, then ipso facto our thoughts are also determined by physics.

[creaturefeatures]

No. What higher power would decide that Poppi Worthington's life would be to be abused and die as a baby?

This is just one example of why I can't believe in fate or a higher power.

[ImListening]

I had this conversation with a friend Vitalogy. Her dh died leaving her with 2 small children. She said he would never have chosen that. I replied - well if it meant 10 glorious years together I bet he would have!

I think everything happens for a reason - you may not know what that reason is though. It maybe your smile as you pass someone stops that someone committing suicide or crossing a road at a particular time.

Truth is we don’t know & wont till we are dead & then may never know then either

[LittlestTruck]

I don't know if it all mapped out- fate has lent me a hand along the way though. A few times now if I've been desperate for money it's found its way to me unexpectedly.

[creaturefeatures]

@Vitalogy

For example...what individual growth or learning do small babies who die of abuse get?

[creaturefeatures]

@ImListening

Sorry, but same question to you as to Vitalogy above...

[ImListening]

Because the soul has chosen that as a lesson. I don’t know if I’m right or wrong & I won’t know till I’m dead.

It’s my way of dealing with many many health conditions some painful. I know I won’t live a full life to old age - it’s the only way I can cope with it.

One health condition I’ve passed to my daughter so she won’t live a full life either. It’s my coping mechanism.

[ImListening]

If that makes sense. I’m having one of those painful days today when I can’t even get out of bed without help so my brain is also not able to express itself properly

[Vitalogy]

Because the soul has chosen that as a lesson. I don’t know if I’m right or wrong & I won’t know till I’m dead. I agree @ImListening

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

But if you’re saying that a soul has chosen its path then in essence you’re saying that people deserve what they get in life. You know how fucked up that is, right?