Fate and Free Will

Think about the idea of fate as you saw in Oedipus and Minority Report. Where do you stand on the ideas of fate, free will, personal responsibility and brain chemistry? Do we have control of our selves and our actions? Can there exist a combination of fate and free will? For our first major blog post think on your past—do you see evidence of fate guiding you, or has it been a long string of coincidences? Include examples from your life that connect with Oedipus and/or John Anderton. Finally come to a conclusion about what you think of this cosmic question.

     As of now, I have no reason to believe that there is such a thing as "fate". I believe that a person's quality of life is determined by their circumstances and what they choose to do about them. For example, I was born in Chicago and raised mostly on the North Shore, but neither were my choice, where I live was my parents' choice. However, I am graduating high school this year and after I turn eighteen, I can go wherever and do whatever I choose. Certain experiences that I have faced have created my fate, I suppose. I am not happy living on the North Shore because I have had constant negative experiences with the people I have encountered around my area which have led me to believe that I want to get out of the North Shore.
       I've experienced something better than here because I took concert choir at New Trier last year. I was able to travel to Australia which opened my eyes to the rest of the world. I chose to take the class and then raise money so that I could go to Australia, which was my free will. I was unhappy on the North Shore and I wanted to find proof that other places on the Earth could make me feel more fufilled, and Australia did that for me. But it was the department of music at New Trier that organized the trip, so it wasn't all my choice. New Trier, which is on the North Shore was responsible for me getting out of here, even though I hate the school, it helped me to find something better.
       In the play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus wanted to know who killed King Laius and it was his choice to pursue that desire to find out who the murderer was. In Oedipus' case, he tried so hard to run away from his fate, as predicted by an oracle, but it ended up biting him in the butt because he unintentionally lived out his fate by trying so hard to prevent it. In reality as of today, oracles do not exist to tell us our fate though, so maybe there is no such thing as fate. 
       I have been grappling with the idea of fate and free will for a while and I suppose I do see a pattern of fate guiding me but I can choose whether I want to continue on the path that I am on or change my pace. I am still young, and my experiences on the North Shore are all I know right now, I haven't lived anywhere else for a long period of time. I loved Australia for the week and a half that I was there but I lived that trip according to the schedule that the trip planners had made, I couldn't do what I wanted. I think it will be more appropriate to discuss my answer to this question once I have had more experiences in life.

Favorite Film

Shutter Island is my favorite psychological thriller. I love that film because it is beautifully twisted and mysterious and the ending is absolutely fantastic. Leonardo Dicaprio does an exquisite job in this film, especially since his character is so complex.