Determinism or free-will?
Why do we do what we do? What governs our actions? What governs the repercussions? Is everything pre-planned and we are just facilitators of the plan or do we genuinely make choices? Is the course of our life pre-determined or do we create our own destiny with our actions and behaviour?
These questions have troubled the entire human race right from time immemorial. Philosophers, spiritual saints, psychologists, evolutionary biologists, artists, poets, educators have all tried to find answers to these questions in their own unique ways. Well if we look at the answers that we have today, two of the most famous approaches that come up are the determinist and the free-will approach.
Determinism states that our behaviour is caused by preceding factors.
We do not act in isolation and just out of mere choices, rather it is either due to our genetic make-up or due to a variety of external factors. We hardly have any control over what we do. We are just facilitators, actors, all that has to happen is pre determined. But if determinism was to be followed, all the crime that happens in the society, all that goes wrong in the world is never anyone’s fault.
On the other hand, the concept of free-will opposes the deterministic approach and argues that we do have a control over our actions.
We consciously choose our behaviour and hence also have the power to determine the course of our lives and that of the Earth. Whatever happens in life is nothing but a consequence of our own actions. It can also be understood as a linear cause and effect relationship. But if our actions are sole responsibilities of us then what about the mentally ill?
Well after a lot of thinking about what governs our behavior and action, I feel that there can’t be a black or white answer to this.
We are what we do and we do what we are.
It is not as direct as getting an obvious result when two numbers are added. There is no definite pattern that can govern what happens when two individuals get together or even how a single individual with a particular genetic make-up will act in a given situation. There are no rules and there can be no rules.
For me the answer lies in the grey area.
Our life is nothing but a manifestation of a cause and effect relationship but unlike free-will, it isn’t linear in nature rather it is a branch like structure.
At each stage in life, in every situation, we have a choice, a choice to act, a choice to govern our own destiny. But what the branch (that I mentioned earlier) starts with is a desire. The moment that the desire arises, the forces of the brain are so strong that they automatically start working to fulfil that desire. The vibrations that are sent out to the Universe are robust and start making everything work in your favour. It is all about what you want and the motive of your behaviour should be to achieve that.

Yes the way different humans might behave to achieve the same thing may be limited by the genetic make up or the external environment hence the path that takes us there may vary but we get what we want only because of our freedom to choose our dreams and our desires.
If your each action is governed by the desire, no matter which route it takes you from, you will reach where you want to reach.
But if the flame within you becomes weak or is replaced by another desire, well the Universe is bound to get confused.
Or we might get so driven by what we want and we start expecting the same as early as possible, tend to lose patience, lose faith hence if the path is longer than what we expected, we might just give up.
So there is neither a pre-determined destiny nor the existence of the behaviour with absolute liberty but the energy of your desire that governs the behaviour, our actions and the course of our lives.
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