Ok, ladies and gents. I’m chillin’ on the Greyhound Bus heading to DC, and I’m reminiscing about the movie I watched last night, Slum Dog Millionaire. Because I do not want to ruin the movie for anyone that has not watched it yet, I will not discuss the plot. However, the plot incorporates the metaphysical notion of Destiny. Below are my thoughts of this abstract idea.
As the title of this blog post suggest, I am not quite fond of the idea that there is some type of transcending force that has control over my life. Absolutism is not present in my world. As defined by my dictionary application, Destiny is ” the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future.” Destiny and phrases such as “It is written” are inextricable. Dissecting the latter, it sounds as if whatever I do my fate has already been decided, and it is absolute. In other words, the product of any and every action I take will produce the same results. Someone may present the argument that your Destiny is not limited to one end result, that it can lead to one of many final products. My initial thought would be that if there are many possible destinies, how can it be absolute unless the the actions or path taken is dependent on the end result and not the vice-versa. The vice-versa is more logical and natural, and follows the rules of causality. However, my actual rebuttal would be that if it can lead to one of many final products, how can it be unique? If the possible Destinies person A can attain is not exhaustive, meaning infinite, then would you not say it is extremely possible that person B has similar, if not completely the same, Destinies. It is not mathematically correct to equate the abstract concept of infinity, but you can imagine. You can imagine that two lists of infinite amount of possible Destinies might have something in common. Similarity intrinsically casts Distinctiveness aside. Alas, a contradiction. Destiny is thought to be unique, but similarities are not a characteristic of uniqueness. So much for that argument =/ .
Destiny suggest that, for those who believe in it, that your soul is living vicariously through the vessel you inhabit, your body. That life is just an experience supported through sensory inputs. Experience has no value without meaning. Simply, a Life courted with Destiny may be full of experiences, but it will lack purpose. What is the point in that? Why do we fight so hard to Live Life to the ‘fullest’? Why do we put forth effort if it is already preordained? If ‘it’, the Spoils of Life, is rightfully ours to begin with, then does not Perseverance, Determination, Decision, Volition, etc. inherently loses it’s meaning? I can not even say “I refuse Destiny” because that would mean I am admitting it affects me and plays a vital role in my life. Maybe it is also not appropriate to say that “I don’t believe in Destiny” either. Rather, it is more proper to say that it does not exist in my life. I won’t allow it to.
Just another day in the life of me 🙂