Machiavellian Principles And Dystopian Futures: We Must End The Mythology Of Fate

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

As children, we believe the world is full of possibilities. We don’t believe there are limits to any of our desires. Any destiny is achievable. From being the hero in our own stories — to defying gravity, we live in another realm where our daydreams are reality.

But before we get deeper into such an esoteric idea like destiny, we have to understand that most human progress is driven by some notion of destiny. When our cave-dwelling Paleolithic were traveling from one place to another, they were motivated by the desire that what they wanted was somewhere on the other side of their next destination.

Some tribes were so passionate about the idea of fate, they invented a pantheon of nature-based gods who represented their desires for a world without struggle. They struggled so they didn’t have to struggle. Any objective is guided by a premise. Any goal has an end. From voting to eating our favorite ice cream, we have what is referred to as teleology (there is a purpose for why you’re doing something). A synonym for destiny is purpose. But, destiny relies on the idea that our actions will lead to some desired end.

We do things because we believe in them. Those actions are our fate. In this sense, destiny exists, and your worldview will predetermine your steps. Think about this: If you fear something, do you run headlong into it? Of course not, you avoid it, like the plague!

If we believe life is meant to be happy, our decisions and responses will imperfectly demonstrate that throughout our experience. In this sense, you have a fate guiding your every step. Your beliefs mediate within you as a sort of destiny that you aren’t always aware of.

In the book Science of Fate, Hannah Critchlow, a British neuroscientist makes the claim that all of our choices, even the friends we choose are all influenced by our neurology:

Critchlow explains that everything – from our genetic lineage to our childhood upbringing, the friends we make, and the risks we take – has the power to shape our brain and alter our perception of the world around us, influencing our thoughts and actions without us even knowing.

Destiny is the belief that whatever is happening now, doesn’t have the last word. However, it also assumes that no matter how bad something seems, there is a reason or a purpose behind it. For some, this purpose is given to us by a divine being, for others, it’s just circumstances that are out of our control.

The belief in anything outside of us essentially determines our steps. This idea does not have to be a religious one —- science argues the same to be true, from a secular point of view.

Your brain makes up its mind up to ten seconds before you realize it, according to researchers. By looking at brain activity while making a decision, the researchers could predict what choice people would make before they themselves were even aware of having made a decision.

The work calls into question the ‘consciousness’ of our decisions and may even challenge ideas about how ‘free’ we are to make a choice at a particular point in time.

Your beliefs about how life is meant to be, how your boss should treat you, how marriage should work, and how the world should be full of peace all guide your steps. Actions arise out of our identity. Our identity is a form of destiny. In a Western context, this message doesn’t resonate with the cultural value of hyperindividuation. We get trained as young children that we are free to make our own decisions. We accept this from a very early age and aren’t really given the tools to change this. So, it becomes part of our identity.

Our identity acts as a form of internalized destiny that materializes in the external world through our behaviors and choices.

This also operates the same way for countries, groups, and tribes. Manifest Destiny was a 19th-century American dream that capitalism and democracy should proliferate across the North American continent. It was fundamentally about territorial expansion and it was justification for many atrocities against groups and members of the First Nations.?

---------------------------------

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

_________________________

SHARE your THOUGHTS BELOW.