Thought Experiments in Destiny

Is there such a thing as fate, and if not, can't you just invent it?

Suppose at the end of your life you face the tunnel of white. This is it, this is the end. You stand before a tribunal of higher dimensional entities, or gods, or aliens - take your pick. You see your entire life spanning out in front of you, but not just the life you lived - the entire set of possible timelines, branching out like a fractal weave of decisions not made, experiences not had. Shining bright in that tapestry of experience is a single thread starting from a particular moment in space and time - the best of all possible timelines. Except you didn’t take it, because it rested on a chance decision you weren’t even aware of, the chaotic indeterminacy of the world leaving you unaware it existed.

You’re given a choice. You can join the ranks of the tribunal itself and watch over humanity, the stars and planets, wandering endlessly in a galaxy of wonders and even create life on new planets - to become an astrobiologist, a sourcerer, lord of your own realm. Or, you can go back into that particular spot, that one node, make the right decision, and enter the best of all possible timelines. You would inhabit it without ever really knowing the life you had actually lived, rather all you would have is the foreknowledge of the timeline that was to come - the key decision points, the moments of triumph and pain. To enter that timeline would lead you inexorably towards the final destiny it represented, the entire time guided by chance events and occurrences that kept you confined into the narrow valley of destiny like a strange attractor in the phase space of life.

Would you take it? Or rather, have you already taken it? Do you feel yourself guided by fate, obsessed with irresistible visions of the future, of what you can become and what is possible to do in one life? Or have you already given in to the expectations of normalcy around you, chosen convention over destiny, succumbed to the peer pressure of playing it safe, living by the book. Is your heart guided by the fear of loss, or by the love of whats possible?

This node - this decision point, is entirely fanciful of course, since every moment of your life you are thinking, making decisions - meetings to take, events to go to, what to have for breakfast. Some of these are key turning points, and others mundane happenstance of everyday life. Yet some decisions are monumental - which job to take, which career to pursue, who to have as your life partner. Yet some of the biggest outcomes in life are not decided by you at all, they are out of your hands entirely. If you’ve already chosen the narrative that you live in the best possible timeline for yourself, you have to also accept that every supposed failure, tragedy, heartbreak, lost opportunity, mistake, is a necessary learning experience keeping you on the one true path leading to that ultimate end.

If there is one thing I believe in with complete conviction its that although you cannot choose what events happen in your life with complete agency, you do have complete agency over the narrative you adopt to interpret experiences, both good and bad, and make sense of what part in your life they are to play. Even moreso, if you do have grand ambitions and visions of what your destiny can be, you can also make the decision to never give up on them, no matter the obstacles or adversity you face in working to make those dreams a reality. Whether you’re the victim of a cruel uncaring universe, or guided by unseen forces towards an ultimate end, is entirely a choice of interpretation.

There is a role that each person can play in the world that is wholly unique to them by dint of their personal experiences, their location in history, the web of social connections and relationships. You cannot change the course of the river you’re on but you can certainly steer your boat and paddle as hard as hell when you see a destination you want to go towards. The choice of believing in a destiny or fate is not just an interpretive framework to make sense out of hardship and give meaning to struggle, but an acceptance of the simple fact: you cannot choose who you were born as, what your strengths are, your family, nationality, height, genetic composition - there are a thousand things that are the fixed boundary conditions of life outside your agency. But, choosing to believe in destiny requires there are things outside your control entirely, since otherwise there is no such thing as destiny. Life is not a wide open plain where a person can choose any direction to walk but rather a branching series of canyons and all we can do is walk the canyon floor and choose which path to talk.

A necessary part of this is the ability to wander and be open to chance. Choosing destiny means you acknowledge that the manifestation of your dreams requires serendipity to let the world help you find your path. It also means accepting that there are dreams that cannot be - that visions of the future might at times be at conflict with one another. The dream of today may be the guiding wandering star that leads you towards your true destination in the end. Follow your dreams. Never give up on them. But when the dream is broken take it to heart - a new path has opened up, and the willingness to embrace the unknown of the future rather than wallow in the loss of what might’ve been leaves you open to find a better way.