Fate.

[Thingymebob]

I was listening to the radio yesterday when a story came on about a married couple somewhere in the UK.
They were total strangers when they met at a dance, they were both 17 or so. They realised that they had a lot in common and formed a relationship, anyway when they met eachother's parents they found out that they were born at the same hospital around the same time, but the best part was that there had been a bit of a mix up.... 
The midwives had actually given the two newborns to the wrong mothers, a mistake that was immediately noticed obviously but remembered well by both mothers.

To cut a long story short, these two have now been married for 50 years and were both saying that they felt that they were meant to be together, they used the word fate quite a bit as if it's a thing.

It's a lovely story and all that but in my eyes it was just a huge coincidence nothing more.
Surely if fate was a thing the crappy endings should be acknowledged also as fate.... "Yeah, it was fate that we met, got married and then divorced."

[adey67]

I was listening to the radio yesterday when a story came on about a married couple somewhere in the UK.
They were total strangers when they met at a dance, they were both 17 or so. They realised that they had a lot in common and formed a relationship, anyway when they met eachother's parents they found out that they were born at the same hospital around the same time, but the best part was that there had been a bit of a mix up.... 
The midwives had actually given the two newborns to the wrong mothers, a mistake that was immediately noticed obviously but remembered well by both mothers.

To cut a long story short, these two have now been married for 50 years and were both saying that they felt that they were meant to be together, they used the word fate quite a bit as if it's a thing.

It's a lovely story and all that but in my eyes it was just a huge coincidence nothing more.
Surely if fate was a thing the crappy endings should be acknowledged also as fate.... "Yeah, it was fate that we met, got married and then divorced."

In these sorts of situations I often use the terms "fate & coincidence" interchangeably but sometimes the word coincidence is just too weak a descriptor, for example; the story of how we found and acquired our beautiful doggie was purely coincidental but I use the term fate because the circumstances were so random and the odds against so long that the word fate for me adds emphasis to that lucky coincidence.

[Aliza]

Of course it was coincidence, but the couple is so personally involved that they want something more meaningful and magical to explain their good fortune. No real harm is occurring as a result.

[Alan V]

People who willfully make things happen so it looks like their choices are fated, based on such pretty coincidences, are admitting that their choices are not based on anything more meaningful.

Perhaps that works for many people, but it wouldn't work for me. I may be writing the story of my own life as well, but I hope I'm a better writer.

[Thingymebob]

Events are either predetermined or they're not.
It's a weird thing when you think about it. I reckon a lot of people would have had events in their lives that they put down to fate rather than random chance but then go on with their lives ignoring insignificant events that would have to be predetermined if fate was a thing.

[Thingymebob]

And another thought... If everything is predetermined (all god's plan) as a fair chunk of the religious believe...
Where do guardian angels come into it?

[rocinantexyz]

And another thought... If everything is predetermined (all god's plan) as a fair chunk of the religious believe...
Where do guardian angels come into it?

If I believed everything was predetermined, I wouldn't take responsibility for anything. After all, nothing could possibly be my fault (including say intentional sabotage) if everything is predetermined.

[Dancefortwo]

And another thought... If everything is predetermined (all god's plan) as a fair chunk of the religious believe...
Where do guardian angels come into it?

.....And freewill.   Fate, prophecy and freewill do not mix well.  If it was fate that brought that couple together then they really didn't choose each other freely.  The possibility of rejecting each other is not there.

[airportkid]

Somebody said once that the opportunity for coincidence is so vast it's a hell of a coincidence there aren't more coincidences.

Here's one more.

[Thingymebob]

And another thought... If everything is predetermined (all god's plan) as a fair chunk of the religious believe...
Where do guardian angels come into it?

If I believed everything was predetermined, I wouldn't take responsibility for anything. After all, nothing could possibly be my fault (including say intentional sabotage) if everything is predetermined.

You haven't been doing a bit of under water work in the Baltic have you?

[Thingymebob]

Somebody said once that the opportunity for coincidence is so vast it's a hell of a coincidence there aren't more coincidences.

Here's one more.

That's a brilliant example of randomness. 

[Thingymebob]

I was listening to the radio yesterday when a story came on about a married couple somewhere in the UK.
They were total strangers when they met at a dance, they were both 17 or so. They realised that they had a lot in common and formed a relationship, anyway when they met eachother's parents they found out that they were born at the same hospital around the same time, but the best part was that there had been a bit of a mix up.... 
The midwives had actually given the two newborns to the wrong mothers, a mistake that was immediately noticed obviously but remembered well by both mothers.

To cut a long story short, these two have now been married for 50 years and were both saying that they felt that they were meant to be together, they used the word fate quite a bit as if it's a thing.

It's a lovely story and all that but in my eyes it was just a huge coincidence nothing more.
Surely if fate was a thing the crappy endings should be acknowledged also as fate.... "Yeah, it was fate that we met, got married and then divorced."

In these sorts of situations I often use the terms "fate & coincidence" interchangeably but sometimes the word coincidence is just too weak a descriptor, for example; the story of how we found and acquired our beautiful doggie was purely coincidental but I use the term fate because the circumstances were so random and the odds against so long that the word fate for me adds emphasis to that lucky coincidence.

Tell us the doggie story mate.

[Dom]

Well, two people meeting is coincidence.

The genetic makeup, as well as life experience of these two people determines whether they hit it off in the long run. (Hitting it off in the short run just needs hormones to flow)  

You could say that it was predetermined that these two would hit it off - not by fate or dog or anything of the sort, but by the above factors.

[Bucky Ball]

So they thought it was "fate" that they both got incompetent careless midwives at the same time ?
That's a coincidence or a pattern ?

[Thingymebob]

So they thought it was "fate" that they both got incompetent careless midwives at the same time ?
That's a coincidence or a pattern ?

Yeah but it was engineered that way. The competent midwives had both broken their ankles whilst skiing in the French Alps.

[adey67]

In these sorts of situations I often use the terms "fate & coincidence" interchangeably but sometimes the word coincidence is just too weak a descriptor, for example; the story of how we found and acquired our beautiful doggie was purely coincidental but I use the term fate because the circumstances were so random and the odds against so long that the word fate for me adds emphasis to that lucky coincidence.

Tell us the doggie story mate.

Ok, 
Well, we've always had dogs as long as I can remember certainly since I was 3 (I'm now 55), pretty much exclusively gun dogs like Labrador retrievers and pointers, then when my parents moved about 15 years ago they stopped keeping a dog, mostly because my dad had dementia, then when my dad went into a home and I came to live with mum following a messy divorce we decided we wanted to get another dog but every animal charity we tried to get a dog from things didn't work out, mostly because many of those charities were what I suspect to be fake money laundering enterprises. 

We didn't want to buy a dog because there are so many who are abandoned and need good homes so after a year we had almost given up hope until one day my mum bought home a copy of Friday Ad which she never normally did, inside that was an advert for a Staffie in our home village, free to a good home, I wasn't too keen because I was a "dog snob" at the time and equated Staffies with Burberry bedecked chavs but as it was in our village agreed to go see it.

As soon as I saw Holly it was love at first sight, she was tiny for a Staffie but so friendly and sweet you would never have guessed she had had her jaws wired up and been thrown out of a van breaking both back legs. 

The guy who gave her up only did so because he was a long distance lorry driver and couldn't give her the attention she needed (he wasn't responsible for her mistreatment). She's a total daddies girl and so friendly and cute she has become quite famous in the village, I routinely have people  stop their cars and vans to get out and make a fuss of her, the village butcher/deli gives her free bones and cheese straws every time they see her. 

She's the best dog I've ever had and really intelligent with a cheeky personality and I'd be lost without her. You can see perhaps why I use the term fate even though I know it was just a lucky coincidence, she's sitting on my lap snoring as I type this.

[rocinantexyz]

You haven't been doing a bit of under water work in the Baltic have you?

Oh no, heh. I only mentioned sabotage for an extreme example of how silly the idea of fate is.

[rocinantexyz]

I always get a chuckle when a person who endorses fate, quotes a statistic.

[Thingymebob]

I always get a chuckle when a person who endorses fate, quotes a statistic.

...And that person doesn't take into account that statistically most statistics are manipulated by statisticians who are statistically more likely to be influenced by statistics than your average Joe. 

[Joods]

I don't know. I'd like to think that my love story happened because I wasn't looking and things just sort of happened. Call it fate if you want to. Or not. I'm simply happily living my life here in Iowa, 1000 miles away from toxic shit that I gladly left behind in 2021.

Tom and I are coming up on two years together in December. We have only had two arguments in those two years and after both arguments, we talked it out like adults and I felt better afterwards. Call that maturity. Other than him, there is literally nothing out here for me in this state. My youngest daughter is in the DLI in Cali and my other daughter is in PA. If it doesn't work out here (and I don't foresee that things won't work out), I can literally go anywhere I want at this point.

At any rate, I'm really happy with my story and I'm gonna just chalk it up to fate because that's how I see it.

[Kim]

So ... "...total strangers when they met at a dance, they were both 17 or so. They realised that they had a lot in common and formed a relationship, anyway when they met eachother's parents they found out that they were born at the same hospital around the same time..."

Ok. Small town.  What are the odds - a kabillion to two?  I've heard quite a few of these kind of stories - mostly all verifiably true. I'ma go with the phrase - not uncommon.

I do love the interesting use of words to explain & explain away, this easily possible situation.  Even in our own dialogue here, I've noticed "lucky" & "good fortune" so, I must add my own favorite, "happy accident".  

***
Once upon a time ... there was a human who wanted to be a god.  All he had to do was convince everyone that he indeed, posessed the attributes of a god.  What the human didn't realize was, in order to convince everyone he was a god, he would have to convince himself, as well.  
Once he did, he found himself unable to trust such a liar.
***

We humans want to believe things are ordered up just for us. It's our way of attempting to convince ourselves of the myriad of things we are not.

So, the ego fight continues. damn - where's my infinity symbol?

[Dom]

***
Once upon a time ... there was a human who wanted to be a god.  All he had to do was convince everyone that he indeed, posessed the attributes of a god.  What the human didn't realize was, in order to convince everyone he was a god, he would have to convince himself, as well.  
Once he did, he found himself unable to trust such a liar.
***

Hmm, are you saying trump is unable to trust himself? No such luck, I'm afraid.

[Thingymebob]

How the hell has Trump snuck into another thread? 

Perhaps everything IS predetermined. 

Or maybe it's sneaked?

[airportkid]

How the hell has Trump snuck into another thread? 

Trump is like a swarm of mosquitoes.  They get everywhere and get your attention. 

[TinyDave]

Is fate and pre determination the same thing?

Is this just semantics?