Quote:It is also set in stone that we will try to better ourselves. Because...? And if you can answer that "because" then there is a reason for it, and if there is a reason for it, then it is not free will that drives it. It is destiny. It is driven by prior events: your birth, your upbringing, your experiences, etc, all physical events that happened in the past that caused your decision to better yourself.


I know it's hard to accept this concept that all our actions are predetermined. We all want to think we have freedom of action. But in reality, there is a reason for everything we do. And if there is a reason for everything we do, then all our actions are determined by prior events. And if every action is determined by prior events, then we can trace all our actions back to the big bang, and that is when all our actions, what we think of as our exercising of free will, was set into motion, and everything that happened from then on was predetermined and figuratively, set in stone.

Couldn't disagree more! Make a decision based on previous events is just the further exploration of free will. You asked why do I go to work, the answer is pay for purchases I have made or will make In the future. Those purchases where not predetermined. Where I go for lunch today is not set in stone. To me that is such a depressing way to view life, you'll only achieve what destiny had already laid out for you? I see no limits on life or what we can do besides what we limit ourselves to. Destiny is saying it's all in someone or something else's hands, religion leans on that assumption a lot as well and I reject that assumption in both cases. We are the masters of our fate good or bad no one or anything else will have a bigger impact on your fate then the reflection staring at you in the mirror.

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