Q: Is Man the full controller of the path of his life, or is the path pre destined?
A:
1. In my opinion, the answer to this question is only subjective. Is man s destiny predecided. No, not if we mean each of his actions are laid out in a plan. I do not believe that.
2. Then, Is man in full control of his path? No not completely. First of all we are the human species. Our mental and physical faculties have limits. We are evolving mentally and as physically, but still we are born into an uncontrolled stage of evolution and there in lies our limit. We are in control, but that control is very limited.
We are all proceding towards an inevitable demise. But is that our ultimate destination? No, i do not believe so. There is the question of how long we influence the human race by our current actions. And there is also the issue of evolving, pushing the frontiers. There in lies our destiny.
@ Everyone: This discussion would be familiar to those who had participated in the same with me in FB. Want to acknowledge all who had participated there.
ReplyDelete@ Others: do share your views.
I believe, reality lies somewhere in between. Though most of the actions are within our control, the results aren't always. The principal factor influencing the "action" is the "person's thinking ability" (I presume this is mostly within control). Whereas the result is a function of several factors, some the person's, some others.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I think man cannot be said to be fully in control of his life's path.
Is our life / path pre-destined? I don't know. To a very great extent our brain is hardwired. But there is a conscious effort on our part to break free from those mental shackles. If pre-destined is equated to the way our brain thinks, and therefore our actions, then it isn't completely predestined. The direction may be, but not the destination.
If pre-destined is considered as being controlled by an unknown external force, I haven't got anything to contribute to this post.
And btw, this template of yours is simple and easy on eyes.
Cheers
"Is our life / path pre-destined? I don't know. To a very great extent our brain is hardwired. But there is a conscious effort on our part to break free from those mental shackles. If pre-destined is equated to the way our brain thinks, and therefore our actions, then it isn't completely predestined. The direction may be, but not the destination." - Claps claps for this para. My views on :pre destined" is exactly concurrent with what you mean in this para.
ReplyDeleteEven at the outset i have stated that if "pre destined" means that our destiny is laid out in a plan - i donot believe it.
Then what did i mean by pre destined in this post, let me throw some light on this by giving an example. Say man want s to travel 1 light year into space, can he do that right now. no not possible since 1. technology is not there now. 2. We are not evolved to live one light year. So this proves that man is not in complete control of his destination, since even at the outset his potential is limited.
Hence where as he may set out a path for himself, that path may ultimately prove to be a mere wish list, since the stage of evolution of his species and his external environment do not allow it.
ReplyDeleteAnd again evolution also to most extent decides the way in which he acts , behaves etc. is to most extent determined by the stage of evolution which determines our mental and physical capabilities.
Hence because of these things i say our path is pre determined to a large extent.
Then do we have any control at all of our life path?
ReplyDeleteYes we do within the above stated limits we have a lot of scope to act, a lot of things which we can do with the current faculties of ours. Even the limited potential is a vast one, which provides ample scope for performance.
Again though the brain , hence behaviour etc are hardwired, the ability to think freely and logically, enables us to break free from the hard coded behaviour, and act in the way that is perceived proper.
Hence man does have control of his life, within the overall limits which i have stated.
Again there is also the possibility of pushing these mental and physical limits. A lot of people have done that, eg. Atheletes, Einstien, A whole lot of philosophers, starting from Veda Vyasa, Socrates etc. These people have pushed the limits of our mental and physical faculties and have thus i believe have helped evolution on its way by making a paradigm shift in general human thought, and actions. And this i believe is our "greater" purpose too.
@mat nee over english a post pottu pottu enakku puriyaama irundudu. Ippo enakku inda post purinja madiri irukku. so i doubt myself if i got ur intent fully.
ReplyDeleteBut my view is as below: Life is full of branches of choices like in Video/PC Games. Each choice leads to another set of predefined choices which branch out. But all of which lead to a common set of ends. Life though is all about the choices we make to reach one of the defined ends!
@ JRSD: If there was a like button to the above comment i would have pressed it. Very cool. That approach Makes you lead life both feet firmly placed on the ground. I am aware also that what you talk about is the essence of dvaitam philosophy. Very cool and could be possibly true as well.
ReplyDeleteToo much serious stuff on your blog. Put some light hearted posts as soon as possible..
ReplyDeleteHa Ha ha you are right, i m not too sure i m good with the fun part, anyways i ll try to come up with one just for you.
ReplyDelete