How Much Can We Really Control? by Paige Sumowski

Fate. It's funny how in so many regions, so many areas of the world, the thought of human control is debated. Not just in society, but in our own lives, our own choices. Perhaps this was a way to reduce blame or guilt. Perhaps this eases stress, knowing that whatever is meant to be will be. Some reject the concept of fate, feeling too out of control.

I don't know if there's a god, if there are beings watching over us, determining our every move as if we are puppets. Regardless of whether or not there is a god, we seem to have little free will.

Think about it: we were born into a world we did not choose with parents we did not choose, only able to respond to stimulus beyond our control with small reflexes (such as crying and screaming) that we do not have control over either. Then this environment and these people and our impulses shape a childhood, which will eventually shape our fears and interests and our own personality. These experiences in our childhood, as well as the personality created, go on to influence our choices. This determines who we meet, who we like, our career paths, where we live, even the cereal we eat in the morning (or if we eat cereal at all).

This doesn't necessarily mean fate exists, as in a plan set in stone that can be prophesied. There may not be any plan at all for any of us. But as far as our lives are concerned, how much can we really control?

With every choice we make, there is likely a reason behind that choice. Even my decision to write about fate is rooted in my long discussions and debates with my father, who was a philosophy major in college.

Yet when I look at my brother, who grew up in the same apartment with the same parents with similar genetics to me, I question this philosophy. Why is it that my brother loves soccer and baseball when I couldn't care less? Why is it that my brother nearly falls asleep during existential conversations when I cannot get enough?

There is no clear cut answer to these questions or the question of fate at all for that matter. That is why it's still debated. But, when it comes down to it, does it really matter? Regardless of whether or not fate or free will exists, we are still brought up the same way, we meet the same people, I still have a (some may say concerning) love to contemplate questions such as these.

So I guess I'll end this blog post with... I don't really know what to think. I don't know if there is free will or fate or some other power, or if there is a variation of free will or fate I haven't considered. What are your thoughts on this? Leave them in the comments! I'm curious to see what you all think.