A discussion of fate
author: robert james | contributor
Give that human beings are physical creatures, the origin point of the universe determines our actions.
Whether a deity is responsible for the multi-verse, or whether it was merely an accident – perhaps created in a lab somewhere – the fact remains that matter is unfolding from a single point: the big bang.
Given that human beings are physical creatures, the origin point of the universe determines our actions. We have the illusion of free will, but even our deciding process is nothing more than a series of neurons firing in the physical universe.
Therefore, our actions are always pre-decided – because they are the result of physical processes stemming from the big bang. Thus, if we had a complete map of the atoms present at the conception of the universe, we would be able to pinpoint every future event.
The objection is raised that if I believe what I’m saying, I shouldn’t need to look both ways when I cross the street – it has already been determined whether a city bus flattens me or not.
On the contrary, the feeling of unease I have crossing the street, which makes me look despite my belief in a causally determined universe, is merely another symptom of the deterministic reality we exist in.
The universe determined that as a human with a fear of death and interest in prolonging my genetic code through reproduction, I should need to look both ways despite knowledge of the deterministic laws of reality.
Moreover, time is merely space. The explosion of the big bang is still resulting in an expanding universe. Therefore, time is constantly growing. But, it was already determined how time must increase since the big bang. Time is an illusion that we experience as human beings in three-dimensional space-time, but perhaps there are extra-dimensional beings that exist outside of time. Maybe they can see all events happening simultaneously from beginning to end.
Even if there are not, it remains the case that time has already been set in motion because it is merely space. Time could go on forever, or it could have a finite point at which it ends. In either scenario, reality has been determined to play out in the way it does because it is merely space emanating from the origin point that is the big bang.
Your decisions, the decisions of the greatest humans and the worst villains, were all the result of the cosmos’ starting point. You could spend your entire life trying to disprove this theory, and to that, I say kudos. That is the role fate, God, or maybe a scientist in a lab somewhere else in the multi-verse gave to you as your destiny with the big bang.
That fact I wrote this, and that you read this, was decided long before our ancestors became bipedal. So thanks for your time – even though you had no choice in the matter.
