Nature vs. Fate

05/05/09

They say you should enjoy life, take every moment as it comes along, because we are alive today, and we should be thankful for that miraculous gift.

And I see the trees, the flowers, the sky and its glaring golden eye piercing layers of whiteness, and I feel quite very small and insignificant. I see Time passing, I see the billions rushing here and there, by chance or following a well-rehearsed path. I see nature, and I hear my own reason. There is a clash, and yet I’m always nature’s bitch.

Is there really something I’m supposed to learn from a sense of alienation as I like to think? Or have I put myself in that situation, somehow?
It comes down to whether I believe in Fate, destiny, or complete free will and randomness. The latter would presume that every step we choose to make lead us further down a particular path, and as steps are taken, the path takes a shape as influenced by the sum of all our actions and decisions. It puts the blame of the outcome on the individual, so that failure becomes the individual’s own responsibility. Nothing outside the person can be blamed for the mistakes but the person because the latter shaped his own life through actions and decisions of his own accord.

Thus life in itself can only be random, and we are free only in so far as we are ‘lucky’ enough to be born in places that allow us to grow as people. It places our species in line with all other species on the planet, and nature governs all, while our capacity to reason as humans is merely a reflection of a possibility. It would imply that such a capacity that seems to set us apart from all other species is in fact completely dependent on chance opportunity. Somewhere on Earth people were born in natural conditions that allowed them to develop a reasoning capacity which they then chose to nurture and pass on to the next generations. Reason is like a glitch of nature, but its very nature makes it quite possible that man was then able to nurture that capacity when all other minor glitches usually disappear down the line.

If I believe in Fate, however, I must presume that a bigger force is at work, somehow. More importantly, if I choose to believe in Fate, then I remove the weight of blame from my shoulder and I become Fate’s toy. Whatever happens isn’t really my doing, but that of something which I cannot fight, for it is already set in stone, somewhere. It takes away any impact my decisions or actions may have because I am merely following what is already planned for my person. Thus, if I am to fail or fall, I am free to blame any other entity out there but me.

It’s such a straightforward notion, isn’t it? I am not discovering anything new in the slightest here.

Then why does it seem so difficult for me to decide once and for all as to which theory I must believe in? Reason grants more power to the natural random theory, mainly because the natural world as it presents itself allows the gathering of more evidence, while the Fate theory is based more or less on notions of faith on the supernatural.

While my reason leans toward what makes more sense so far, my person is torn, and that feeling is far-removed from logic. It is fear. Basic fear.
Accepting fully that I am part of a world based on natural randomness takes away any possibility for me to cling on to the delusion of uniqueness or importance of the person in the world. Or rather, the importance of the Person vs. Humanity.

A free fall into the Fate theory, as lacking in logical evidence as it stands, allows me to cling onto the notion of uniqueness to an extent. I become passive in my own existence, and that might well be the reason why it appeals to my person, because I am naturally of a passive nature.

If human nature follows the course that nature intended for all living creatures despite the glitch of ‘reason’, then is our innate selfishness and all vices or flaws but a mere reflection of a species?
Our reason chose to attach to our flaws or vices a negative connotation for only two main reasons that spring to mind: society and religion.

Yet nature discriminates only against the weak. It is the weak that are left behind; the weak are killed or eaten; the weak often miss out on the opportunity to procreate. If one is too weak to survive then it will most likely die or perish. If a lion is strong enough to break necks then it is given a better chance of survival.

tbc