File created: 2026-03-22
Why should fate and free will be opposites?
I find that we like to ascribe fate to things after they happen. It’s an ad hoc explanation for why something happened as it did. And to be fair, there are things that are out of our control.
On the other hand, this line of thinking ignores the obvious fact that there is (at least) the appearance of agency. How can we know things are fated until after they happen? Maybe they will happen no matter what we do, but likewise maybe something we do can change the outcome.
As a practical matter, therefore, the free will/fate debate is apparently meaningless, since we cannot know what is fated until it comes to pass (in which case there is no changing it) and fate cannot be falsified unless we act to contradict it. And when it fails, cannot our actions be a part of this plan? Isn’t fate just a causal chain, wherein sometimes we will make a difference and sometimes we will not?
At any rate, it’s suggestive that fate and free will are not actually opposites. They are perspectives we choose to hold, and can be true from those different points of view.