Fate/Destiny and luck

digitalwolf · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:15

Anybody believe in fate/destiny?

Many people I know say we create our own luck just by how we approach things, true?

A friend of mine is a huge believer in fate and he keeps saying "it's fate telling you something" with a certain run of recent events it has got me wondering :rolleyes:

Nix · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:16

Fate/Destiny - No.

Luck/Chance - Yes.

Many people I know say we create our own luck just by how we approach things, true?

To an extent, but it's not the whole truth as you can try and try for something and unless you cash some luck in - you're going nowhere.

Andy · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:17

I think anybody who is remotely interested in maths would disagree.

Surely though how we appraoch things is based in past experience? So that wouldn't be luck.

Cosimo · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:18

Nope, I make my own destiny.

The IPB · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:18

I don't believe in fate, I walk my own path.

Fenris · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:24

Fate/Destiny, hell no, absolute rubbish. That would imply people are born to suffer aweful lives and children to die young while some are alowed to live happily.

That is messed up, it's almost as flawed as that "God has a reason for everything" trash spouted occasionly.

Luck is differant, we perseive luck as a good turn of events that was either unexpected or unlikely, its less a "thing" and more of a way of looking at what happens. Some see "luck" as something that can be aquired but I dissagree with that, because it means you can personaly influence events which is of course impossible.

When people say "make luck" I think it's more to do with having a good outlook and working towards a positive outcome, rather than say amking yourself win a game of Poker.

pingwing · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:27

Theres that matrix quote with neo on fate being like i dont like the thought of someone controling my destany...

That seems about right. Unless we are in the matrix, then were all a bit screwed

But yeah im big into you make your own luck

digitalwolf · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:28

It's just I have had a terrible run of luck recently and I can understand why somebody would point to fate.

I am looking for a new car. As of a couple of weeks ago I had a perfectly decent car up for sale. Somebody drove down the side of it in a car park and drove off.

It has now developed two expensive faults, not related to the car park incident.

I thought ok, i'll buy a new car and fix my old one up. I have looked at 7cars and missed out on every single one, by a whisker.

See how a fate believer could say it's happening for a reason?

antijoke · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:30

So this is what people with time on their hands think about.

The futures not set, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Kreeeee · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:30

That hardly sounds terrible.

Cuchulain · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:30

digitalwolf said:
Anybody believe in fate/destiny?

Many people I know say we create our own luck just by how we approach things, true?

A friend of mine is a huge believer in fate and he keeps saying "it's fate telling you something" with a certain run of recent events it has got me wondering

Fate and destiny in the context you're referring to do not exist, it's just how unimaginative people describe events and you can't make your own luck (otherwise you get to the point where it's no longer luck).

Nix · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:30

Fenris said:
When people say "make luck" I think it's more to do with having a good outlook and working towards a positive outcome, rather than say amking yourself win a game of Poker.

Making your own luck - or self-determination as I'd put it - is simply about being open to the opportunities around you, rather than expecting them to come to you. It's all about putting yourself into a favourable position.

As I said earlier though, sometimes even that isn't enough as there will always be an element of chance.

You could say, strategically do something with the odds of 2:1 of having a favourable outcome, where as chance plays its hand and the 150:1 was infact the only favourable outcome.

Et cetera.

Life is all about chance, but it's also about keeping your eyes open for those opportunties and trying to play a tight game.

antijoke · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:38

Nix said:
Life is all about chance, but it's also about keeping your eyes open for those opportunties and trying to play a tight game.

I'd go along with that.

digitalwolf · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:39

I think fate is a load of BS tbh.

Luck is an interesting one though. Some people are really lucky??

semi-pro waster · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:43

There's an old saying "what is for you will not go past you" and it's quite comforting in a way to think that you will always get what you deserve (it's usually said in a positive context) but I can't say I believe in it or fate per se. The idea that I've got a destiny (apart from death at some point) which I'm implacably being drawn towards isn't one that I'm too keen to embrace, to believe that I have no influence on events in my life isn't one that can sit entirely happily with me.

It also depends on how you'd define luck, I suspect that a lot of what would be described as luck is simply putting yourself in an advantageous position and keeping your eyes open for opportunities then taking them when they come along.

krooton · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:47

digitalwolf said:
I think fate is a load of BS tbh.

Luck is an interesting one though. Some people are really lucky??

I am, but not in the way people usually perceive it.

I don't win loads of competitions, and stuff like like that, it more a case of things always working out for me, terrible things never happening to me.

I like to put a bit of a karmic spin on the whole things, as I consider myself to be a nice person, and it's certainly nothing religious as I am a devout agnostic (ho ho ho!).

Stuff always goes my way though, and if something doesn't, there is always something to make it easier to overcome.

I'm certainly not complaining, and have been touching wood the whole time I type this, but I am just a pretty lucky mofo.

Vonhelmet · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:47

digitalwolf said:
I think fate is a load of BS tbh.

Luck is an interesting one though. Some people are really lucky??

In so far as luck is just a human concept to describe the fact that some people appear to be more favoured by chance...

rsatd · 2 Jun 2009 at 15:58

If something different happened, you probably would not be asking this, so things that happened, they already happened and I wouldn't have it any other way. As probably some other things would happen then, eventually.

Azagoth · 2 Jun 2009 at 16:04

The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.

ChrisJSY · 2 Jun 2009 at 17:16

semi-pro waster said:
There's an old saying "what is for you will not go past you" and it's quite comforting in a way to think that you will always get what you deserve (it's usually said in a positive context) but I can't say I believe in it or fate per se. The idea that I've got a destiny (apart from death at some point) which I'm implacably being drawn towards isn't one that I'm too keen to embrace, to believe that I have no influence on events in my life isn't one that can sit entirely happily with me.

I'm sure this only works for people in a good position and that are content with their lives. Those brought up in war torn countries or in famine have probable never heard of such a ridiculous saying