Fate

October 26, 2021 Cognitive Insights, Sociocultural Issues No Comments

Accepting one’s fate may be very beautiful if it comes from deep inside. Any other kind is worth little.

An animal runs away from a predator.

The predator grabs it. The animal struggles and dies. It all happens in a short time. Until the last moment, there is little question of fate as far as the dying animal is concerned.

Humans die much longer. They also yearn and suffer much longer. They know fate, which they may accept or not.

Thinking about fate comes with thinking consciously.

In all this, the only Compassionate stance feels to me the following:

Fate must be free.

This is, nobody should coerce anyone else to ‘accept his fate.’

For instance, during a pandemic, the choice may be between either the protection of old people or the freedom of younger people to socialize. Here, the argument ‘accept your fate’ is no good argument, as it never is.

Yet, the choice needs to be made ― here as in many other occasions in which people live together in a society.

Thus, tragedy exists.

This doesn’t lie in the coercion to accept one’s fate but in accepting that fate exists. It is part of the deal, part of the gift of consciousness that we received from nature.

It throws one out of a garden, but only as an illusion.

In reality, fate may be the most Compassionate issue,

but only in freedom. In coercion, there is no fate, but only coercion ― as in “You must accept your fate.” You see, what’s the difference with “You must accept my coercion”?

In free fate, there is the free choice to accept one’s fate, as there is also the free choice to keep hoping, or Hoping. [see: “About Hope”]

Both may be immensely beautiful.

Accepting fate

This is what makes it beautiful to me. Then again, ‘acceptance’ in this is crucially challenging. [see: “The Tough Concept of ‘Acceptance’”]

For one thing, it is incompatible with ‘making one accept something.’

It all hangs quite together, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, decisions need to be taken; policies need to be made.

Making them with Compassion makes a difference for everyone.

Is it possible to die with a smile?

Is it possible to postpone living with a smile?

Absolutely, and more: both are worth living and dying for.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

What is Human Logical Thinking?

Metaphors are often seen as belonging to imagination, and logic as belonging to reason. Yet the two are not enemies. This blog explores what that means and why it matters. Formal logic can be executed by machines, but human logical thinking is alive. It grows out of metaphorical soil, shaped by culture and lived experience. Read the full article…

Uploading Mind — Living Forever?

The idea of uploading a mind is one of the most seductive promises of advanced technology. Who wouldn’t want to escape death, to preserve their thoughts and memories, to continue existing indefinitely? It sounds like science fiction — because it is. But what if we take it seriously, as a mind experiment? Would it be Read the full article…

From Analogy to Intelligence

If an inference system (mind or A.I.) holds many patterns, it may find many similarities between these at several levels of abstraction. The human brain is an immense pattern recognizer. Super-A.I. will undoubtedly follow a similar path ― as does Lisa. Lisa’s journey thus exemplifies the potential of A.I. to evolve from mere data processors to entities capable Read the full article…

Translate »