Choose Your Own Adventure!

Write a detailed explanation of why someone should never allow what they perceive as fate to dominate their decision making.

The question of fate and free will has been a highly contested one for thousands of years. Indeed, the thought of finding an answer is very enticing, as it will tell us once and for all if things will be what they are and there’s no point trying or if you are the only thing controlling your destiny. This essay will focus on the latter, arguing a number of examples to depict how humans are better off when using free will to guide their decision making.

It is obvious that there has been change in our society over the years of human existence. We have evolved a more equal, peaceful, and healthy community as opposed to that of our ancient counterparts. The major driving factor behind this positive change is the choices made by people to change their situations. By expressing their discontent, fighting for a better future, and taking control of their lives, positive things have been achieved. One historical example is the African American civil rights movement (1954-1968), which amongst other things achieved equal rights legislation in the American constitution.

Another example can be drawn from Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs. In the novel, the protagonist Said makes many decisions under the erroneous impression that fate is guiding him. He fails to notice (until too late) the array of opportunities presented to him to change his goals, for example by Nur and the Sheikh. Early on in the novel when Said first goes to visit the Sheikh (Chapter 2), he employs a self pitying tone by detailing all the problems with his life and ignoring the Sheikh’s suggestions to “Wash and read (the Quran)”. Said repeatedly focuses on the people who have wronged him, and considers it his fate to exact justice on them. By allowing what he perceives as his fate to guide his decision making, Said takes a self-destructive that eventually leads to his death.

These examples are but two of many that prove how much better our lives would be if we were to view our futures as malleable instead of set in stone. Despite this, I’m not making any claims about whether life operates around fate or free will. I just personally believe that our lives are better when we take agency over them. Indeed, Article 1 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all human beings are born free”.  If there is fate, then perhaps some people are fated to improve their situations, while others aren’t.