It seems the older I get, the more stupid I become. The standards for human knowledge get higher and higher with every passing day, until finally, it's so high that nobody, not even the wisest of us can reach it. There exists questions that encourage the minds of scientists and philosophers, but unless the very fabric of reality becomes unraveled like a blanket and studied, the question will remain utterly unanswerable. This, of course, is the question of free will.
Far more important than any religious debate, the debate of fate vs. freewill spans into the realms of both the philosophical and the scientific, yet retains a religion-like quality. The paradoxes are so numerous, that the answer seems almost definable on a person-to-person basis. Point being, this incredible dilemma of our entire existence has become like that of a religion, absolute truth that varies depending on the person.
If you believe in fate, the idea that everything in your life is railroaded, you make a compromise. Your life is now completely justified by various aspects leading to your present. Your genetics, the way in which you were raised, your biological make up, the memories and experiences you've accumulated and every factor of your life outside of your body are the causes of your current situation. Anything you do and everything you think is the bi-product of all those factor, and whatever you think was your choice, or your free-will was simply an illusion created by these programmed reactions and your self-consciousness.
Some, myself included, find this idea to be rather depressing. To acknowledge the existence of fate, seems to defeat it in a simple way. To recognize that your life is following a timeline from which it can never divert would also be to recognize that every function you play out, and every action you take is an inevitable one. Some find comfort in this, for they can look back at their past, and be content with their place in life, for after all, it was inevitable. However, this way of thinking would require that one disregards this theory entirely in the present, to ensure that they play things out the way they should. The question that I pose is, isn't that a viable choice?
We live our lives from day to day with a basic choice. Out of all of the events in our day, and all the choices we make, there is only one constant choice that we are always making. This choice is whether to give up, or continue on. This places responsibility heavily on the shoulders of the person making the choice, and reinforces the idea that everything in their lives is, and has been their making. The idea of free will names the human-being as, not a product of their past and current circumstances, but the product of the conscious choices he has made up until the present. The idea can reach such epic levels, that if taken far enough, can even imply that at every second, we are making the choice of either living or dying.
This idea however can also be a very depressing way of living. You can never look at the misfortunes of your life as circumstantial. You can never shake the blame or responsibility of your situations, for in some way, your choices and way of living have lead you there. And, just like with the idea of fate, some gain great comfort from acknowledging free will. They can look forward with the reassurance that their life is what they make of it, and as long as they make the right choices, they can overcome whatever past, unfortunate choices they have already made.
I believe very strongly in free will, but the more I think about it, the paradoxes (for lack of a more fitting term) bug me. At least with fate, you can decide that there are mathematical variables of every aspect of the world that come together to make one everlasting math equation dictating everything to their fated outcomes. Once that idea is accepted, whether you find comfort in it or not, can't be questioned, for even your skepticism is a product of all of the factors around you and within your brain. Hell, even this paper, by that definition would be completely fated, and therefore futile.
With freewill, however, you must absolutely recognize certain ideas behind fate. Somebody contracts cancer due to a hereditary genetic problem, could anyone say it was due to the choices they've made. If a man gets hit by a runaway car, would anybody be able to tell him that his mistake was getting out of bed that morning. Freewill places shame on the bodies of the unfortunate. Those with great problems are lead to believe that it was due to their own inability to deal with life. It makes life into this game where you either win or lose.
Nobody knows the answer. We are an entire species beating our heads over the properties of our very existence. It seems like such an essential question, and I can promise that nobody will ever come to a conclusion. But, maybe if we find meaning in the world within ourselves, the overall meaning won't matter so much. I walk through this world without any sort of creed to speak of, yet I look at certain events and moments in my life as signs. Taking meaning from every moment in our lives can personalize our choices and circumstance, allowing us to become the masters of our lives.
In the end, we are ultimately responsible for ourselves in this world. But, in order to live satisfying lives, we must not be discouraged by the paradoxes and inconsistencies of our reality, but find solace in our ability to find meaning and learn from every moment. Find comfort in the very consciousnesses that can intuitively dictate how we feel and how we react to everything in our lives. In simpler words, as long as you are alive, you can be happy. Anyway, maybe some questions are better left unanswered.