Fate, Free Will, or Inevitability?

[Theophrastus]

"Life is the result of the non random replication of randomly
varying replicators." ~ Richard Dawkins  

[Dathu]

Theophrastus

"Life is the result of the non random replication of randomly
varying replicators." ~ Richard Dawkins

That's an interesting way to put it. xd  

[Six Billion of Spades]

It's easy to believe in fate when we have such things as the confirmation bias. For instance, when you're thinking of someone and they suddenly show up at your house, it's natural to think, however seriously, that fate brought the person there. Of course, there's no evidence to support the role of "fate" in that encounter, and there were most likely many other instances in which you were thinking about the person and they didn't show up.

Fate implies that there is a force that guides us all to a certain goal. Of course, since we don't know what the goal is, it would be useless to claim that fate played a part in it when we do reach it.

Of course, as BuncyTheFrog said, some things are, in a sense, "fated" to happen. The world will make a complete revolution around the sun this year, we will have to empty our garbage cans, and Creationists will continue to get dumber and dumber. Some of these are scientific axioms, while others are social constructs, which are only "true" so long as society accepts them as truth.

Now, there are factors that affect our behavior (such as chemical properties in the brain, personal opinions and tastes, etc.), but that shouldn't suggest that we don't have the freedom to make decisions. We have the ability to choose anything we would like. But we are only free within certain boundaries. Keep in mind that free will does not imply the ability to do, but instead the ability to decide. For instance, the mere fact that we can't jump from the Sears Tower and fly into the horizon doesn't mean we don't have free will.

Although, like I said, there are several factors affecting our choices, they do not dominate our ability to make decisions for ourselves. There is, however, a kind of false inevitability at work. What will happen will happen, fate or not. That's my basic theory on fate and free will.

Hope I made a little sense... if I seemed a little incoherent, it's because I'm a little tired.  

[SkeletonPhoenix]

Ok this is my very weird thoery. I believe that we create or on fate in life but no mater what are fate is already choosen.

Explianation: I'm not saying no mater what you do you fate will be the same. What I am saying is that your fate is created upon what you do in live. But since time is a striaght line thoose actions you will choose will no matter what be the same. the only way for fate to be diffrent is to be in another time line or something to screw up the time line.
It also applies to the people that effect your live big and small affects. It is because they choose to do something that put them there but they were going to choose it anyway.

Basicaly I'm saying that we are free to choose are fate but we are slaves to the time line.  

[Habible]

I believe in free will stare  

[Theophrastus]

I believe in free thought. <3

One cannot have free will unless one is omnipotent and omniscient.

No matter HOW hard I try.  

[Habible]

Hehe, true...

Okay...

I believe in free thought stare  

[Elanchana]

But how quickly we forget
Such a sure and perfect plan,
And unlearn the passions that once had burned.

I guess I'd say it's a mix between free will and inevitability. You can change some things in your own life, but some things are just due to chance and there's no changing that. That's not a god working, that's just reality.

But how could I have seen?
What was I to do?
How could I know I would find you?
-Erik, The Phantom of the Opera, Tom Alonso