Dictionary.com (the greatest site ever!) defines fate as, "The supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events." In other words, inevitable daily tasks are predestined by this uncontrollable force. So according to this so-called principle of fate, the bowl of frosted flakes that you ate this morning might either make or break your whole entire day.
For example, say you wake up, shower, go through the rest of your morning routine and on a whim decide to pour yourself a heaping bowl of your child's frosted flakes instead of your regular yogurt and granola combo. After all, Tony the Tiger says they're grrrrrreat, so why shouldn't you give them a try? As you hurry up and stuff your face, you realize that you are running a bit behind. Just as you are grabbing your briefcase, your door bell rings. You answer the door and all of the sudden "SUPRISE" it's Ed Mcmahon and the gang from Publisher's Clearing house standing there in party hats, greeting you with a check for one zillion dollars.
You stop and think, "This would not of happened if I wasn't running late. Maybe it was my new outfit or the shampoo I used...Nah, it HAD to be the Frosted Flakes. I never eat frosted flakes. It must have been fate granted to me from my new best friend Tony the Tiger!"
But, Now a new question is raised. Is fate always a good thing?
Let's take that same scenerio....You have just come down stairs and instead of your yogurt and such, you pour yourself a big bowl of Frosted Flakes and just as you reach for the milk, it spills all over your brand new pants. You stop and think, "Oh great, now I'm going to be late. It was such a bad idea to eat frosted flakes, why would I even think to do something so stupid? I have the worst luck."
Ed Mcmahon didn't even show up to save the day.
So here's my philisophical question of the day. Do you believe in fate? why?
Here's my answer (take it for what it's worth). I believe that events happen because you choose for them to happen. For example, if someone gains 4628 pounds in a year from eating 46327 pieces of cheesecake a day, it is not because it was destined for he or she to be overweight. It was because he or she decided to stuff their face full of zillions of calories (or carbs....whatever people are counting these days) and were not able to burn off the excess whatevers in order to maintain their previous weight.
Aristotle bought into the idea of fate. His reasons: He blamed everything on the Gods. For example, he once said "I believe there will be a sea battle today betweeen the Greeks and the Romans. Zeus wanted it this way!" Um...what role did Zeus play in wanting the sea battle? Do you think that one day he just magically decided that he wanted to see a sea battle and decided to make it so?
Fate....I don't buy into it. Do you?