Building on my last article, Is Will Free?*, and having recently read The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality*, it’s safe to say that I’m now a staunch believer of Fate, or Determinism, from a logical and reductionist perspective.

The idea I’m going to go over here was taken from the same book, as mentioned above, The Fabric of the Cosmos, which rationalizes the idea of probability from a Quantum Physics standpoint.

Now, before you start going all mystical on me, understand this: the primary reason why the field of Quantum Physics is so “sexy” right now is because it’s unknown. It is the bleeding edge of mathematics and science, where our equations and tools for measurement on a macro-scale have proven to be quite limited on a micro-(or, quantum) one.

“Quantum Probability” as it is referred to in the book works like this—

An electron (we, and the entire universe, are made up of tiny atoms and electrons) has the potential probabilistic path such as this:

But, as most people hypothesize, there are always alternate paths that can take place, like this:

And other alternate paths that can take place, like this:

What eventually happens is, certain probabilistic outcomes which may arise either end up strengthening other probabilistic outcomes, or ultimately cancel each other out; resulting in something that looks more like this:

Over time, these probabilistic pathways converge and intersect at a singular point, resulting in the manifested outcome that we see before us in our daily lives:

Why did you choose that path to work today; decide to eat that last scoop of ice cream; or binge watch Netflix till you fell asleep? Because all probabilities led to it.

However, it doesn’t just stop there. Each probabilistic intersection builds on the next probabilistic intersection; which builds on the next probabilistic intersection; which builds on the next probabilistic intersection; resulting in a series of still-frames (just like a movie) that appear to be playing out in “real time” before us.

Just intersections leading to a myriad of other intersections; from which, we ascribe as being this grand thing that we call “life”.

So, whether you believe in solving for random, intersecting points of probabilistic outcomes, or the hands of Fate guiding you, it’s hard to deny that there is some mechanism moving all of us, located just behind the scenes. It is only the mind, the thing that likes to believe that we’re in full control, that tells us we have the free will necessary to influence any of it.

Just enjoy the ride.

-all the world’s a stage, and we’re each just actors playing out our part.