Between the Absurdities of "I Create My Own Reality" and "You Are Determined"

. . . is the reality of our existence

Avoid being tangled in dogmatic underbrush and take the true middle path (a real image produced by a human being: me!)

Many arguments are pointless. Is the Earth round or flat? Pointless argument — the answer is clear and has been clear for millennia. Do human beings have free will or are they determined? Also a pointless argument — the answer is clear and has been clear for millennia.

People fall into pointless arguments for several reasons. Usually because their ego and preconceptions get in the way of their critical thinking. Even when ego isn’t involved, sadly, most people choose to be lazy thinkers, accepting simplistic answers. Some people use pointless arguments to push an ideology and dominate other people. The pointless argument of free will versus determinism is perpetuated by all of those causes.

The good news is that clear critical thinking dissolves the argument fairly quickly. To begin, let’s clear up the issue by looking at the two extremes of the argument: determinism and “you create your own reality.”

(Source: Piqsels)

Determinism

The ancient Western assumption that everything that happened had to be part of a grand teleology (a designed and purposeful universe) led to so many errors of thought. When we let go of that assumption of teleology and its dread consequence of determinism, human experience makes more sense and real possibilities for meaning can begin. To illustrate, here’s a brief history of the assumption of determinism.

Ancient Greeks thought that Fate dictated all that would happen in the world. They wrote poems and plays about how people were unable to escape their predetermined fate. Aristotle stated that all events were results of a chain of causation that began with the First Cause. Plotinus, extending the ideas of Plato, taught that everything was the result of emanations from The One — the source of everything that exists. The Roman stoics, perpetuated the idea of Fate, thought that Logos — the divine source of reason — had a rational plan that dictated all that would happen in the world.