Destiny: Made or Written

This is a philosophy question so there is no right or wrong but I want to see your views on it. Let's see some facts:
If we make our own destinies then that means that we are able to change and live however we want with completely no limits and we are able to shape the future however we want.
If everything is already written then we are all made to do something and there is completely no way we could evade our fates.

 

There is no such thing as destiny. We make it. It is your decisions that decide everything.

 

Destiny refers to a pre-determined course of events. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the cosmos. A sense of destiny in its oldest human sense remains still in the soldier's fatalistic image of the "bullet that has your name on it" or the moment when your number "comes up," or the flowering of a romance that was "meant to be."

Fate and Destiny can be distinguished from one another. "Fate" can also be said as "fatality" or "fatalism". Fate implies no choice, and ends fatally, with a death. Fate is an outcome determined by an outside agency acting upon a person or entity; but with destiny the entity is participating in achieving an outcome that is directly related to itself. Participation happens willfully^-^

Different people have different beliefs, so no-one can really determine whether there is such a thing called 'destiny' or 'fate'. You make your own decisions and only you can decide for yourself.

 

I think your destiny is both. You are given a push toward a path but only you can make yourself walk that path. And there will always be people who will try to take you off that path.

the path would be your life.

 

I do believe in fate and that some things are meant to be, but there are a lot of choices that we have to make and the future is unpredictable.

 

I think we do have a destiny written out for us, it just depends if we act upon it or not.

 

I'd like to think that we make our own destiny. But if it is written, then the choices we make we were made to make, right? So there's a bit of a loop hole in this. ^^

 

I think that our 'destinies' are completely up to us. You can chalk it all up to fate if you'd like, but I like to think that I'm in complete control of my life. I'm not religious, so I don't think there is an all powerful person manipulating what and who I'm going to be in my life. I just believe in me. My actions are up to me, and I'm responsible for them.

There are thinks that are set in stone, like the cycles of nature etc, but I think humans are completely responsible for what they do in life, and it's not just some preset story set for them.

 

In my opinion, there is no one looking out for us, there is no one planning our lives, there is no one and nothing creating any kind of destiny for any one of us. We choose what to do, and we then live with the consequences. Anything good in this world was the result of human choices. Same for everything bad.

And, looking at the poll, it would seem that I'm in the majority here... :lolface:

 

It's both. It is ours in the sense of we don't know it's coming. But, also, once it's here, for a brief moment it is written once it is absolutely determined. Within seconds of the actual action. But at the same time and within that brief time-frame, I think it can be altered if you tried hard enough. It is mostly ours, but also written.

 

I believe that our destinies are completely up to us.Although we are given certain talents,we choose whether to use them to our advantage.
Likewise,if you have an opportunity,take it.

 

A Destiny is what you make of it. If you feel that your destiny is orchestrated by the hands of fate, then that is how it will end. If you take it in your own hands, then that's how it ends. Do they lead up different paths? Who can say. We only have one destiny, and no one knows the difference between what they decide, and what they live through.

 

This is a strange question for me to answer with what I think. I like to think that string theory is correct, where every infinitesimally small moment being a dimension in and of itself. So while destiny is set in stone and we cannot change it, this destiny goes in every different direction at once so we don't really need to.

 

I do believe in fate and destiny, but I don't believe in setting our whole future on it. Our consequences are made by what we've done in the past. If we went back in a time machine and did something different, well our future would be different. Some things I think were made to happen, but not everything.

 

The future is both not completely up to chance, nor completely in the individual's control.

I don't really believe in predestination. Just because something happened doesn't mean it was meant to be that way, and not everything happens for a good reason.

 

I believe that there is a destiny written out for us already. Or at least something we were made to do. But I think we have the choice to follow that destiny or reject it. ​

 

Our decisions we make are influenced by the environment around us, in turn our decisions are totally out of our control. People act on their past experiences. Everything is what decides our decisions.

I believe things start a point A, and end up at point B. We don't know what point B is, but it's out there.

 

Destiny is an amusing thing. As I do not believe in religion, which is used as a controlling factor to destiny, I don't buy into it the same way folks who do believe in it will.

We are birthed into the world with certain abilities, a genetic code. Some people take this to mean we come to this world with a destiny. This makes us capable of various tasks but can also set limits upon us. Most people, however, do not use their genetic potentials to their maximums in even any one area and often sell themselves short or listen to others who sell them short for them. We often cancel ourselves out or something can even happen in life that cripples us physically or mentally. We are stuck with what we are given to work with, but we can take this body and mind and develop them as we will, despite many obstacles.

Some people are led to believe they are destined for greatness or trouble by the words of others, whether written or spoken. In the end, I believe that someone can write out your future for you, set you on a path but -only- if you actually choose it OR the people and environment around you forces your hand to decide in the end that the choice is the better one versus others that are available. In the end, the person whose destiny is laid before him or her at some point mentally acknowledges that he or she is going to accept the decision of something else, whether through brainwashing or because it's just the better, easier fate to him or her.
i.e. Your father wants you to become a librarian instead of following in his footsteps as a blacksmith. The role in the town is considered more prestigious and he wants the family to move up from being poor. He raises you to read what books he can scavenge, doesn't really teach you his trade and refuses to allow you to apprentice for things you could be interested in and take a short cut. You were smart and intuitive as a child and he's decided you will be used in this fashion as maybe it's good for you but also the family line. Maybe you love reading and memorizing books etc and you feel it's not such a bad thing. Maybe he even tells you that it is your destiny because you are smarter than other members of your family and there has to be a reason. So, you either get to like this plan since your dad is controlling you to do it anyway, or you decide to go against your family's wishes and bring shame to them and get royal beatings, or you decide to flee and make it to another town with little of anything because your family controls what you own. If you don't mind the job your father seeks to get you into, you will make things happen as he does, talking to the right people, making impressions on those he gets or you encounter. You'll do it and fulfill your dad's dream destiny. If you don't like it, if you let your father's will go over your own and fear repercussions etc, you'll do it anyway and be unhappy but hope to grow into liking it more, despite the fact you really wanted to be a doctor and he just won't hear it. If you do anything else, you risk hardship but you may feel that you have not had your will broken since you are against the idea of this pre-made destiny. If when you grow far older and decide down the line to become a librarian after having been a doctor for years because it is an easier job and age makes you worried you could hurt someone because the surgical hands aren't as gifted now.. well, this is your choice to do. Some people may feel it caters to destiny, but I would not. It's a feasible choice made by the person with what's going on about him or her.

Predictions made by 'wise' people are another form of destiny people put stock into. Some predictions are grand things such as an apocalyptic type event or some great occurrence that benefits mankind of an area. Detectives and soldiers, police and doctors etc all make predictions as to whether something can happen or not often in the short term. Soldiers try to predict their enemies on the battlefield. Police and detectives try to get a prediction on what a serial killer might do, doctors predict if a person has a chance of survival or not or when a baby will be born. Even games like football have great strategies to them based on chance and predictions. When we play board games such as chess or Risk, we attempt to predict our foes and what course of action they may do based on who they are and what we know of them, and what may be a smart move versus a poor move to us. Poker players make predictions in a similar manner and attempt to resolve whether someone is bluffing or if he/she actually has a hand that you should not attempt to toss money against into the pot.

Those examples of immediate guessing are based off what we can perceive with our five senses and it can all be rationalized. Sometimes we are correct and sometimes we lose by under or over estimating. Of course, the destiny can come into play if we toss in elements that limit a person's choices. The strategies one employs against someone else, the act itself cuts down opponent's choices and if you are really good at predictions, most of the time you already know what options they have to choose that are left. Opponents, however can be quite witty and may think of something you did not, which can cancel out this prediction destiny you've set up for them, or they can go a way predicted and another outcome can happen at the right moment that he or she takes advantage of.

With grand predictions, all someone is doing to me is he or she is studying mankind in general, on a large scale. Also, the environment around is a factor. The opponents in the poker game are nature and certain humanity aspects such as jealousy, greed, love, compassion, hatreds, self-absorbed people that don't pay attention, etc. I think in our own ways, we all have probably sat and thought 'where is this world going to?' and we can make some accurate predictions. Some people, however, feel -very- drawn to making declarations which becomes an arrogant thing to me. Sometimes, however, these declarations are what we need to see the greater picture and to make change happen because otherwise the vast majority of us might ignore claims that the ice caps are melting, or that factories are polluting rivers and lakes, or that Aids is spreading rampant through Africa, etc. Sometimes these declarations get us to move our asses, even if some are hogwash, because perhaps there is something to take notice of that will keep us around longer.

If anyone actually read this whole thing, I realize I kind of just rambled on in thought but in the end I simply believe that as a life form on the world, and a sentient one at that, we have many choices available to us. Sometimes other humans or the environment around us can make things difficult to make things happen that we want, or even impossible, or sometimes we can limit ourselves and just give up. We most likely will not see all of our goals come to fruition and that's just reality. Some people really do make it their life's work to try to control others and others let them because it's not beneficial to go against them for some reason or other, but it's all very tangible and comprehensible. It's important to me that despite all odds out there, we know that we make the choices in the end whether to be compliant with what others want, push ourselves to do what we want or we can even choose to go a different route. It's this choice we have that makes me not a believer of destiny which is held above us in some celestial god-like manner and that we humans are often our own worst enemy.

 

I watched an anime once. In it, there's a girl who tells fortunes. She says that she prefers it when she gets it wrong, because then it means that there are many different futures.


What I'm saying is, that sometimes you have to make a choice, right? And which choice you take can impact your future. So, I guess we make our own choices, our own luck, our own futures.

 

First of all, I don't think there is such a thing as destiny. Destiny is supposed to be what we are meant to do with our lives and in that sense, it is already preplanned. We aren't really meant for anything. We do what we want to do, what we do is up to us. However, it also isn't entirely up to us with what happens, there are outside forces that can prevent us from realizing our full potential and doing what we want to do. For example, let's say you want to be a runner, but you get into an accident and lose your legs. You can't run anymore. It wasn't necessarily your decision, but it wasn't something you can control either.