Is Destiny a Matter of Choice or Chance

Is Destiny a Matter of Choice or Chance

  • Submitted By: Vishu
  • Date Submitted: 01/13/2009 6:00 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 2640
  • Page: 11
  • Views: 2

Is Destiny a Matter of Choice
or A Matter of Chance?
Lot of my friends ask me, “Is Destiny a matter of Choice or a matter of Chance ?” This is, strictly speaking, self contradictory. The questioner believes that there is destiny; and that one can attain it through choices, or chance occurrences determine it; his enquiry is to determine whether it is a matter of chance or choice. To understand the contradiction and to go deeper into the subject, the terms must be defined.
Destiny is something to which a person or thing is destined i.e. the course of events in our life is predetermined to reach a preordained destination. Destiny implies that there is some Power which decrees or determines the course of events beforehand. In this view there is no chance or choice left. Let us be clear, any other meaning of destiny would not be permitted by standard dictionaries. However people use it in different senses than permitted by dictionaries. Some maintain that destiny is ultimately what you arrive at in your life. And for those who believe in destiny, fate is the principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to as they are or events to happen as they do. Fate and destiny are therefore related causally; therefore one who believes in destiny has to believe in fate.
Choice, or free will, needs availability of alternatives for any thought, speech and/ or action from which one can choose.
Chance occurrence of an event is one in which no cause can be identified explaining its teleological or purposeful specificity. It is also known as a random event. Dictionary defines it as, chance is something that happens unpredictably without discernable human intention or observable cause; it also means the probability of an indicated outcome in an uncertain situation.
In destiny there is nothing random, there is no chance, nor there is any choice because, by definition, it is all preordained. If destiny rules then either there are no choices and...

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