Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Fate: A Query

This is a totally non-beer related post, but I'm working on another article for The Grand Pooh-Bah and this one is on fate. Any input? Do you believe in fate? Destiny? Karma? Kismet? Why? Why not? Is there free will, or is our future carved in stone amongst the stars?

Get back to me. I'm fishing for ideas.

Doc

7 comments:

  1. ANY input you have will be of valuable service. BO: after all those "God Talks" there must be something you could add. What do you know about the "Calvinists", not the one with the tiger named Hobbes.

    Elizabeth: you have had dealings with "The stars" and "the cards". Is there anything that you can pass along that will be of some help.

    I will split my fee with one, or both of you, if you can help me pound this out. The more of whatever you add that I use, the larger cut you get. I am willing to accept none of the $100 up for grabs if you can be of some help. Cash, post-dated check, or Caymen Islands/Swiss bank account is acceptable.

    The money isn't really important to me, as I have made it past my money woes, at least for the time being, and I want this to be a well rounded article, not a cobbled-together one like the last. I want this one to really sing! I can't do this without your input. You two are the brightest people of all the bright people I know, and I need your help.

    After all, why should I collect on my mundane musings when I can include the distilled wisdom of two very smart, yet oppisite intellects.

    Please help me!

    Post thoughts on this post in the comments. The Grand Pooh-Bah returns on Sunday 5/20/o7 and I would like to have the finished product done by then.

    Think hard, and please hurry!

    Doc

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  2. Fate exists to us, but not to the higher power that controls it. To us, it appears as free will because we make the decisions ourselves, but somewhere in a realm we don't exist in, it was already known what choices we would make.

    That's my $.02.

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  3. Dude, we must share a psychic link or something, as Free Will has been on my mind all day long (ask your wife-- she called it an illusion and then barked at me for licking a gummed label and slapping it on her forehead, whereupon she ripped it off in anger).

    Where was I??

    Wiki has a LOVELY article on Free Will, including a few flow charts. I think it's related to FATE somehow, as in if we assume that we've got free will then we carve out our own fate based on the choices we make WITH said free will.

    Or, you could say that fate is hanging in the balance of eternity and it just comes and falls on your head, regardless of WHAT you do: you can be a dangerous moron BUT be fated to be a lucky, dangerous moron. you can also go the other way-- you can be smart and savvy and your fate will doom you to a life of misery.

    OR you could go the militant atheist way of thinking and say that NOTHING that we cannot empirically prove exists: god doesnt, fate doesnt, karma doesnt, etc.

    Fate seems to imply an external influence, I think-- some sort of Supreme Being who's got your fate figured out FOR you: look at the Greek (Roman?) Fates of whom there were three. Lest that seem pagan and unenlightened, look at MODERN faiths who strongly suggest you get your shit together and act right here on earth so your fate will be good in the next life. People without faith don't seem to give two jolly hoots about fate.

    Whoop-- time to get goin'. I'll thunk on these things!!

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  4. genn6: I love your input and I think I'm going to use some or all of it. Sorry I didn't think to ask you in the opening comment, but I hear from you so rarely. Anything else that you can think of would be appreciated. You get a cut of the $100.

    Doc

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  5. Hey, where's MY CUT of them 100 clams?!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You'll get yours ya big lug! I just need to finish the article and see how much of what you contributed makes it to the final draft. Prizes will be awarded according to how much I use. If you write more of the article for me, then you get a bigger share, so keep them ideas comin'!

    Doc

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