Fate vs free will: The debate goes on

Human beings represent the crowning achievement of the process of Creation in the Universe. The one feature that distinguishes them from other living beings is the faculty of rational thought.

Hope, and ambition, are traits that come naturally to human beings. Everyone feels the need to become ‘someone’, to achieve something; to be able to say, while looking back, over one’s shoulder, towards the end of one’s life, “There! I did that!”

Then, there are the few, who are born to be leaders. They are consumed by the desire, to be able to say, when the time comes for them to go, that they have left the world a better place. Their lives are dedicated to making a significant contribution, to changing the course of the history of Humankind. Leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa, devoted their lives to the welfare of people. Others, such as Hitler and Mussolini, had precisely the opposite as their goal; namely, achievement of their personal ambitions, subverting in the process the freedoms of peoples, and countries, in the process, even if it meant pain, suffering colossal loss of life and property, and even genocide. Strangely enough, both types believed in the dictum, “Your Destiny is a fate of the others; the Destiny of others is your Fate.”

Whether what people accomplish during their lives is the direct consequence of their actions, or entirely attributable to destiny; is a debate that has raged for thousands of years. A debate, in other words, whether it is fate, or free will, that is more important. While fate stands for a predetermined course of events, free will denotes the ability to make choices, and to stay in control, of one’s own destiny. Both are key factors in how, and why, events happen in our lives. It is important to recognize, and accept, the fact that life is a delicate balance between the two. And, at least in respect of those who are believers, so is the trust in the power of the prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom, to know the difference.” Fate, in other words, is the harbinger of opportunities, and free will determines whether, or not, you seize them. The philosophical view that all actions are predetermined by prior events is called Determinism. And the view that people can control what they do, and how they behave, is called Compatibilism.

The essence of happiness lies, in discovering the secret of what the French call ‘la joie de vivre’, or the zest for life. The importance of the need to realise the precious gift that life is, and spend it in a pleasant and enjoyable manner, is brought out beautifully in the lyrics of a famous tune of yesteryear, ‘Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana’, from the popular Hindi movie, ‘Andaz’, of 1971, vintage, which go as follows.

“Zindagi ek safar hai suhana

Yahan kal kya ho

kisne jaana ………

Haste gate jahan se guzar

Duniya ki tu parvah na kar

Muskuraate hue din

bitana …..

….. Maut aani hai

ayegi ik din

Jaan jaani hai jayegi ik din

Aisi baaton se kya

ghabrana ……”

What these lines mean, in essence, is that life is a beautiful journey in which nothing is certain. One should, therefore, spend it singing, laughing and in a carefree manner. Since death is inevitable, there is no point in being afraid of it.

A similar message is conveyed by the lyrics, of the title song of the runaway blockbuster movie ‘Waqt’, of 1965 vintage, which go,

“Aage bhi jaane na tu

Peeche bhi jaane na tu

Jo bhi hai, bas yahi

ik pal hai …………

……. Yeh pal gawana na yeh pal hi tera hai

……. Jeene waale soch le

Yahi waqt hai kar le,

poori aarzoo …..”

Neither the past, nor the future, the lyricists is, telling us, are in one’s hands. All that matters, is the present moment, which should be seized to realise one’s ambitions. And then there is the stanza, in the poem ‘Pippa Passes’ by the 19th century British poet, Robert Browning, which goes as follows: “The year’s at the spring, And day’s at the morn; Morning’s at seven; The hill-side’s dew-pearled; The lark’s on the wing; The snail’s on the thorn; God’s in His heaven— All’s right with the world!”

The poet’s message is that there is not much that is right with the world, but even in the midst of all that is wrong, there are moments of beauty and all indeed seems right.

Many popular expressions, and phrases, emphasise the roles of fate and destiny in our daily lives. If you say ‘God forbid,’ you are expressing your hope that something will not happen. Similarly, the idiom, ‘fortune favors the bold,’ means that being brave and taking risks can make you successful. That the benediction of God should benefit a person, embarking upon a journey or adventure, is usually brought out by the expression, “Godspeed.” And that, while hoping for the best, one should not take things for granted, is beautifully expressed in the Urdu phrase, “Inshallah.”

Believing that people cannot change the way events will happen and that events, especially bad ones, cannot be avoided: People of Odisha after the Phailin cyclone. Such a fatalistic attitude is described in other well-known expressions, such as,

Wahi hota hai jo manzoor e khuda hota hai”,

or that alone will happen, which God wills, can result in total inaction.

The spirit of the same feeling is also reflected in the Telugu saying, “Siva aagnya lenide cheema ayina kuttadu” or, even an ant will not sting without the will of Lord Shiva.

That the jury is still out, about the supremacy of free or destiny, is evident, from the fact, of the choice being given, to a witnesses in a Court of Law, either to swear, in the name of God, or to affirm, solemnly, about speaking the truth. Such is also the case, in the case of the oaths, administered to elected functionaries.

We face a similar situation, of doubt and uncertainty, when we look at the laws of nature. Such as, for instance, the law of gravitation, the Standard Model Theory of the universe, the Theory of Random Mutation, and Natural Selection, propounded by Charles Darwin, the Buoyancy Principle discovered by Archimedes, or the law, governing the degrees of freedom, available to the molecules of a gas, which determines how the molecules may move, rotate or vibrate.

By definition, all such laws are immutable, perpetual and unchangeable. That has led to the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, the fountain of the laws. Great scientists, such as Newton, Descartes and Boyle, believed in that theory.

That the Supreme Being can be privy to the intentions of an individual, even when that very person is no longer able to divine them, was again brought out in pithy manner by 19th century British poet, Robert Browning, who wrote, “when I wrote this poem, only God and I knew what it meant; now, only God knows.”

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)