Predestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. Its religious nature distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism and free will, and related concepts. In particular, predestination concerns God’s decision to create and to govern Creation, and the extent to which God’s decisions determine ahead of time what the destiny of groups and individuals will be.
We’ve been watching the movie Luther in AP the past two days and just discussing the Reformation in general. Today Jean Calvin and Calvinism were briefly mentioned, and it sort of triggered some thoughts in my brain that have been brewing (as in beer) all day.
If you don’t know, Calvin sort of continued Martin Luther’s thoughts for reform and ended up forming his own division of the church centered on predestination. And hopefully you read the first paragraph.
If you have ever carried on a conversation with me in the middle of the night (which is basically like 3 or 4 people, of which 1 or 2 might read this), you may have noticed I become really… weird. I feel like I become much more open about things and more prone to discussing philosophy as it relates to life. And I have to say I really enjoy such impromptu, ravaging discussions. Ravaging.
I’ve really been struggling to decide exactly how much of this “Predestination” exists, though not really strictly in the religion/salvation area (would that be determinism?). If you honestly consider it, it can be scary how much of our lives are determined for us. Your parents, your surroundings, your social status, your habits, your appearance, your potential towards future success. More and more, studies show (that sounds so gay) that even behaviors are more influenced by genetic makeup than environment (separated twins).
Think about all the big milestone events in your life and the Butterfly effect created from that. Even small things are huge. What if you had made different friends your first day at school? Wore different clothes? Didn’t move? Thought before you spoke? The implications are huge, and a lot of things really don’t seem to be based on personal choice.
More and more society is becoming corrupt, and our little cover that’s been protecting us the last umpteen years or so is falling through. All that stuff they tried to teach us in Health is potentially useful. We have to grapple with decisions instead of just going with it. We have to choose friends and choose to lose friends who hold us back. Things are basically spiraling downwards and no one seems to care enough to do anything.
Lately I’ve been thinking a decent bit about where to move when I get older. I’m not even kidding; I’m sick of American culture, American politics, American society, American corruption, American stress, and more than anything American youth (no offense of course, you’re not included). Top of the list are Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada (yes, the country we’ve all been breed to hate for no good reason). Life is be coming so stressful it is outrageous. Everyone always works. No one really cares. People are more and more materialistic. Sure, half of it is just growing up and half of it is my nature to worry about anything and everything, but the other half, and the biggest half, (Kilgore would point out that my halves don’t add up) is entirely external pressure.
That didn’t really stay on topic or go along the lines I had hoped for, but I think I may have gotten a point across. And it’s time for bed.
How do you feel about Predestination, about social pressures, and the state of the world?
±armin
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