Free Will is Fate

An evergreen planted on a Christmas tree farm is bound to be chopped down. Nevertheless, it strives for growth, reaching toward the sun from the day it was planted. Its destiny is inevitable, as once it is done growing it will be chopped down. The authenticity of free will and of fate have been discussed since the start of ethics and religion. To have free will is to possess the power to make decisions that determine your future. To have fate is to be destined for a predetermined outcome. What if making decisions is the outcome? This is where free will becomes fate. Free will is fate. What one decides to do is in fact already determined.
The decisions that individuals make are based on history or past experiences that have already occurred and can not be modified. Stephen Hawking refers to Darwin’s theory of natural selection when explaining fate. According to Hawking natural selection has developed “characteristics, such as aggression” and “our aggressive instincts seem to be encoded in our DNA”. Therefore, an individual’s aggression is based majorly on DNA history, destining them to possess aggressive instincts. History has patterns which produce the same outcomes. For one, there is always disorder during power vacuums. The long-time dictator in Iraq was ousted and now the country experiences a power struggle. Secondly, tragedies are fabricated into projects. The arrest of Rosa Parks developed into a bus boycott; the survival of education advocate Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban, transformed her into a globe-wide icon for women’s education. Those with different experiences act accordingly. In his essay “Is Everything Determined?” Stephen Hawking expresses it: “the intelligence we have developed...may ensure that we find the right answers.” With every learning experience our destiny to make certain decisions draws nearer and nearer. Society and individuals are destined to act a certain way based on their background; people make choices based on what they know, and this causes some to step up and some to step back. In his satire Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut’s character soldier Edgar Derby stands up to a Nazi. Derby had been a teacher prior to the war, and his past education urged him to respond against the official after wrong was done. He concluded from his experiences as a teacher and coach that he had the exigence to take a stand. Therefore, his own experiences predetermined that he would step up.
His own personal expectations also determined Edgar Derby’s decisions. Expectation is fateful in its discreetness which causes an impact on society without appearing a culprit. The same expectation held by Derby also plays into others’ fates. Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five character Billy Pilgrim expects that fate will prevail regardless of his efforts to possess free will. He says to his war companions, ‘“You guys go on without me”’. Abandonment of survival effort is his way of succumbing to his fate. He supposes that his exertions are useless so he steps back from power. In his essay “Is Everything Determined?” Hawking proposes, “there is the possibility we may find a complete unified [determinism theory] in as little as twenty years...what follows is my personal attempt to come to terms with these problems”. He expects that society will be able to define the theory of determinism in the near future; as a result he steps up to address his understanding of determinism. I find myself and the teacher comments on my report card assuring that I work hard for the future. This illusion that I decide to work to impact my future is the result of my personal expectations and those from society which urge me to work hard. Similarly, why don’t ‘good kids’ run away from home? This may sound aimless but it speaks to the same expectation. The reason is not that they have no ability to run away; several adolescents have money, clothes, and transportation. The expectations of peers and family hold them back. Even if their motivation is to break the stereotype that good kids don’t run away, it does not exceed the consequences to follow. The personal expectations of an individual in depression are low or nonexistent, causing them to abandon life as does Billy Pilgrim, and often their illness causes them to disregard the higher, more reasonable expectations of others. As a result their probability of acting out, dropping out of school, or committing suicide increases. Due to expectations ingrained in the lives of people, their fates are already decided.
Society’s encouragement to make a change indicates free will. Barack Obama’s Yes Campaign urges Americans to pursue action; liberals initiate improved immigration and gender rights. Personal changes like going to college, losing weight, or attending rehab are applauded. Even Billy Pilgrim checks himself in at a veterans mental hospital. Nevertheless, even this encouragement has already been determined. Fate brings us today’s New Era. Experiences and expectations have sparked this enforcement of change. Politicians identify issues in the past which need improvement, and society expects them to step up to those issues. Liberals address problems upon which, with their exigence, they qualify to act. Past personal problems motivate individuals to make changes in their lives. Every act has reason behind it, and that reason determines every act.
It is easy to render one of carelessness and neglectfulness when they fail to overcome an obstacle. The fate of many addicts is the struggle to overcome their addiction. Is it truly their choice to act a certain way? It is important to be open-minded about others’ actions and decisions because every person has expectations and past experiences. It is not up to us to critique another’s fate; instead, we should all be accepting and open-minded of what is to be. If I was destined to write this essay, who is destined to call it to action? I guess we will see.