Human Free Will as the Tools of Destiny
-Individual psychological phenomena affect global sociopolitical/religious, etc. events. The latter is reflective of the former. -
Firstly, the idea that individual psychological phenomena directly create global socio-political events is grounded in an assumption claiming social events spring forth from the psyche of humankind. A fatalist counter-argument can be made about destiny controlling the actions of individual human beings, which then have a broad societal effect. It could also be argued, destiny controls the actions of society which then have a broad affect on individuals within a society. This would mean: society acts of its own accord, or as a tool of destiny, and controls individual human beings. My claim is, society cannot operate of its own accord without the acts of individuals. But, individuals can operate of their own accord without society. If destiny controls the actions of humans, are we subject to an uncontrollable & unchanging fate?
If destiny is a force similar to gravity, when & where is destiny in space & time? Perhaps, destiny is a force with a mass so great, it can guide the actions of the natural world. But, as a human, it certainly feels as if we have a capacity to alter outcome, called free will, and, how would destiny act if it wasn’t on our behalf? A question arises in my mind, assuming that destiny is akin to a gravitational pull: is human free will the tool of destiny?
Can destiny be found in the psyche of humans? Would it be located in the subconscious, or more precisely, the preconscious? It seems it can be brought to conscious attention. Since the future is unknown, our destiny cannot be made clear, but we can forage in our minds for clues. These clues may be found in dreams, ambitions, anxieties, & intuitions.
Can humans realize & control our destiny? If we can bring destiny to consciousness, and we can’t control it, it would bring nothing but despair. But, it seems we can bring our personal destinies to consciousness & change it by noticing our fantasies, habits, conscious aspirations, & past shortcomings. On second thought, perhaps we can’t bring our whole destinies into consciousness, but we can at least find where we are on our path. Logically, if we can do this personally, we can do it on a grand collective scale. What are our global, collective fantasies, habits, conscious aspirations, & past shortcomings?
Well, education is surely the means of achieving the goal of realizing our collective destiny. Because, we can find out where we are on the map of our human journey, and see where we’re going. If where we’re going is not where we wish to go, we can, hopefully, change our course. As destiny uses humanity as a tool, we should strive to be aware & helpful in its quest. Especially if we, as a species, are giving birth to a new, artificially intelligent, tool of destiny.
Is destiny like gravity? Can it be located in our collective unconscious? Can we realize & control it?
