There is much debate whether the concepts of determinism and free will hold seperate of one another.. The theory that there are predetermined fates for each individual with no option of change holds an objection with those who believe the human race to make decisions out of free will. A world that has already been set to happen holds fear with those who feel that their choices are not theirs: it is believed that determinism and free will fight with no balance. Although both concepts contradict one another, it doesn’t always mean that they don’t share a specific relationship. Even though we may have a specified fate in our lives, these fates are molded by the choices we make - thus defining free will. There may or may not be a predetermined destiny, and whether there is one, we know for sure that the decisions we make creates paths and obstacles that leads us to our predetermined destinies. These paths and obstacles are what defines us as human beings, and eventually what leads our lives till the end. Determinism and free will don’t fight a gruesome battle against one another, but dance hand in hand in the balance of life.
I have answered various forms of the question, “Where do you see yourself in over twenty years from now?” with a sure response that I have a clear clue EXACTLY where I will be. Once asked this question, ideas race through my mind, setting specific goals and hopes that I will reach them. Doesn’t that make our lives predetermined by our actions and thoughts? Consider that numerous histories are possible for an individual, but what decides our true history from the group are our choices,in life. It was Stephen Hawking in his passage “Is Everything Determined?” where he stated that there is not a single history for our universe but “a whole family of POSSIBLE histories.”. Our fates may be set, but everything in between is our choice. The choices we believe to be “free will” might as well be decisions that lead us closer to our fates. For example, in Kurt Vonnegut’s best-selling novel Slaughterhouse 5, main character Billy Pilgrim psychologically time travels, experiencing the deaths and events of his past and future. Pilgrim believes that because he has seen his fate along with others around him, free will is nonexistent. Vonnegut’s novel, though, addresses the opposite: that we have choices in between regardless of how our lives may end. Billy Pilgrim, who chooses to wander as a stranger during his war experiences, differs from another in Slaughterhouse named Derby. Vonnegut expresses that our fates may not be changed, Derby’s conscious decision to stand up and become a “character” did not change his fate-death inevitably took him- but no doubt he was one of the most interesting individuals in the entirety of the book. Even Billy Pilgrim, whose firm belief that our choices will be irrelevant to our fates, cries at some parts of the story; his tears may not have changed his fate, but it was surely his acknowledgement and his choice to cry. The world is big enough to consider that there are many possibilities with how our lives may turn out, but the choices of free will set stepping stones towards only one of the many possible fates. As in the words of Hawking, “We have Many Worlds, but only One Reality.”
The connections between fate and free will lies with the beginning of an individual’s life - their atmosphere, origins, race and moments may program them to make choices related to their fates. According to Hawking, the DNA and genetics that are associated with humans have led us to be typically aggressive people who strive for a working society (“Is Everything Predetermined?). Hawking stated that our biological evolution has had no significant change from the last ten thousand years, concluding that our sense organs have been dated back to our “cave dwelling days”. It is the mere way human race have been living through time that may contribute with how our fates are decided. In terms of race and origins in a person, how a man or woman is raised will have an impact in deciding which fate amongst the possible histories of fates will be chosen. For example, I have grown up in a liberal arts enthusiastic family; my mother is a doctor, my father is an engineer and both are zealous of raising a child with a future in medicine. The fact that both my parents have influenced my ideas of an occupation in medicine ever since I was young has put my life in a specific goal. My fate in medicine is my conscious decision, but the influence from my family is relevant. The influence of origins may set our lives, but everything in between is ours; although I am positive in a future career in medicine, that has not stopped me from studying music currently; whether or not I study music and play music doesn’t enhance or diminish my fate in medicine, but it is a choice that I make, and the important fact is that I am happy with what my life will have to bring in medicine.
It is understandable to believe that the relationship between determinism and free will run far from each other. The concept of a destined, unchangable fate proves the idea that us having the option to make our own decisions to decide how our lives will turn out is irrelevant. But the choices we make, regardless of whether they will never change our destined futures, should be choices that fulfills our happiest desires. Therefore, what should be understood is that human kind should still enforce an illusion of freewill. Humanity refuses to prosper as a community and society without a motive that they have a choice in their lives. With the illusion of free will, it comforts the idea of fate as well as holds individuals responsible for their choices. The dance between free will and determinism is a waltz; free-will may take the steps but fate will take the lead to end the dance.