Freewill -v- Destiny

[Scorpio'sWill2Power]

That leads me nicely into Carl Jung's concept of Synchronicity, put simply, sometimes there are meaningful coincidences in time and space. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity However we then have a choice in how we react to that occurence. In this way, things may look like "fate" but it doesn't mean our lives are laid down in somekind of astral roadmap. Looked at another way: we see a leaf on a tree, we know it will fall downwards at some point, but the time and manner in which this will happen will be affected by the environmental variables at that point in time, eg if it's windy it may go up before it comes down which would seem entirely contradictory to the laws of the universe if we applied the analogy to another situation

Outstanding Curious George, I was just about to go the same route
when I saw your post.

Life is action and reaction and that is many times thought
of as fate by some.

Much of life is perception and Jung sets an exceptional example
of that.

Free will determines what the end result in the grand scheme
of things will be.

[Uncle_Ed]

Hey! My thread re-opened! I knew this would happen! Er...

[Warbaby1943]

Hey! My thread re-opened! I knew this would happen! Er...

That's what's nice about new people joining the forums. they dig back and find something of interest. Glad to see this thread.

I believe we have the free will to make choices but I think the hand of God gently guides or helps us in those decisions.

[Uncle_Ed]

Now, of course, I start to point out that nothing we experience is in the present. As we are electro-chemical (soft) machines, by the time we register something, it's already past...

I have no idea how this ties in-what about you?

[Warbaby1943]

Now, of course, I start to point out that nothing we experience is in the present. As we are electro-chemical (soft) machines, by the time we register something, it's already past...

I have no idea how this ties in-what about you?

Me either but I have already forgotten what I was saying.

[TomOfSweden]

That's an easy one. Destiny is a contradiction. If everything is destiny then what's the point doing anything. Why not just go and hang yourself and get it over with. Destiny takes away every joy and sorrow in life, and just makes everything one long pointless journey to an inevitable goal. My experience is that people who say they believe in destiny really don't. They just use the concept for them to avoid having to think about cause and effect in life.

I'm not so sure about that we have free will either. Our brains are wired to react rapidly and powerfully to percieved dangers a lot more than what would be rational. Is that really free will?

[SheepishJaina]

okay, here goes... I believe that our path is already known. We do make choices. We chose what we want to do or not do. i think of it not as a set path. We don't do something because it's in a "script" but rather that the script for our lives has been written as though someone from the future were writing it out after we've left this world.

From my view, God wants us all to be believers, however if we really had no free will, we all would be already. He knows if we will accept or reject him already. We make that choice on our own, not because he has maliciously gone through a list and randomly checked names of who will or wont accept him.