So in a nutshell, I don't believe that any time other than right now currently exists. The past USED to exist, when it was the present. The future WILL exist, when it becomes the present, but only the present exists. Therefore, a destiny has not been set for me, and my life was not predetermined.
Am I the only one of the opinion that this is just a long-winded way of saying "The past exists" and "The future exists"? It's kind of in the definition of the words, and implied in the usages thereof.
Wasn't it decided (after the afore-quoted post) that to be relative, something must exist and be more than an idea? So how is time an idea and relative? Either I'm just having a brainfuck or there's a conflict here. Time IS relative, but it's also more than an idea.
Anyways, the topic of "free will vs. fate" is a very complex question and has been the subject of thousands of discussions and debates and writings and the such by philosophers and would-bes for millennia, so don't expect a satisfactory explanation from an RMRK thread.
Excuse me? Nobody can be "wrong" in a debate. It's arrogant to say I'm wrong. And don't tell me to read books. Take a look at yourself before you show disrespect towards others.
I recall proving people wrong in debates on many occassions, here and elsewhere. It's not arrogance (although I am arrogant, that's a different matter), it's merely that there IS a difference between "true" and "false" (I really do love when people say otherwise, though).
Also, reading is the path to success, didn't y'know? Do read books, it'll do you a lot of good, and it seems that you need to (then, so do I, so don't take that too insultingly). Lastly, he wasn't being disrespectful in the least. So boo on you.
And you misinterpreted his post in other ways, too, it seems, because in your next post you missed the entire point of what he said. It seems you got so angry at someone daring to call you wrong you didn't bother to figure out what he was trying to say, or maybe you're just as dense as I'm starting to think.
I believe in free will, but with a good deal of influence from other sources (people, ideas, experience). I guess that's a bad answer- a one-sentence and vague response to such a hairy and complex question. But until my opinion regarding the issue is better formulated, it's the best I got.