Is it Fate ?

[Lachlan09]

Who believes fate is a real, unseen, unvoidable part of everyone's lives and who thinks it a load of rubbish ?

[Magenta]

I think it's a load of rubbish, which some may use or fall back on when they mess up and need someone to blame.
Is giving credit to 'fate' for good fortune just another way to thank an (imaginary) deity?
How about 'self-fulfilling prophecy'? Is that just another form of fate?

[hiorta]

'Fate' or 'Karma' are no more than other terms for the Natural Law of Cause & Effect in operation.
We get as we have earned - no more or no less.

[Magenta]

Originally Posted by hiorta

We get as we have earned - no more or no less.

I tend to disagree with this statement. If we "get as we have earned - no more or no less", does that mean people who are victims of crime, or 'natural' disasters, or any of the other terrible things that go on in this world, have earned their suffering?
Or that people who win the lotto have earned it?
That just seems wrong on so many levels.

[apict]

Originally Posted by Magenta

I tend to disagree with this statement. If we "get as we have earned - no more or no less", does that mean people who are victims of crime, or 'natural' disasters, or any of the other terrible things that go on in this world, have earned their suffering?
Or that people who win the lotto have earned it?
That just seems wrong on so many levels.

Agreed. It smacks of "blaming the victim." I work in a children's hospital and see a lot of innocent children being victimized by circumstance. The common libertarian viewpoint tends to ignore such unfortunate circumstance in order to validate their "I've got mine" philosophy.
I think there are unavoidable, unseen, real influences/circumstances of life. Labeling this "fate" is OK with me. But the existence of fate does not imply we have no free will, or no ability to make the best of our fated circumstance.

[tig]

i dont think there much truth in fate other than people believing they have bad luck and therefore creating their own bad luck

dunno if that even makes sense tho

[Lachlan09]

Yes - and I think it also leads to superstitious beliefs which control people's lives.

Luck, fate, luck of the draw - whatever it's called.

My view is don't worry about it. For instance, if people were to say "you lucky hound" because you found a good job, then my reply is "there's no luck in it. I got off my a**e and went for it.".

So if I don't get the job and I say "oh well, I wasn't meant to get that job" or something to that effect, is that acknowledging the existence of fate ?

It sounds like it.