People will act to the maxim of what they see as satisfying to their needs mentally and physically. What one sees as satisfying depends on past experiences and natural hungers. The laws of nature control what actions a person is physically capable of committing.

So even while a person is physically capable of committing many acts at any time they will pick a certain one because of who they are and if you could take every variable into account you could predict exactly what they will do.

While I don't think fate controls one's life I do believe in fate if you're speaking of destiny being a factor in your life. I've seen fate in action many times in my life so I do believe in its truth. It's kind of like being in the right place at the right time. Most things you've done put you in that right place at that time and there is no way one could have driven themselves there.

I'll take an example or two from my life and I'll be anxious to know what you think of these things. In May 1996 I bought a Honda Civic Ex. I had never had a car with four seats before and wondered why I bought that at the time. I was strictly a two seater convertible person for years. My mother had a severe cerebral hemorrhage in October of 1996 and I needed that car to carry her wheelchair around and it fit in the back seat nicely. At about the same time my boss was clearing out his belongings from our Brooklyn office and moving up to the Catskill mountains. That was in the summer of '99. I was also working as a process server at the same time I was playing P.I. but that I could do at my leisure. In late September I got bored with it and left. This made me available to care for my mother and move back home just in time.

I had just settled a WCB case in early 1997 which gave me the means to eventually buy my own business. I sold that for double what I paid for it just after Mom died. Had I now been in the territory that wouldn't have happened. I took the proceeds and bought my condo which appreciated 2 and 1/2 times in the course of one year. Even if I sold below that, I'd have more than my money back. Right time, right place = Fate.

Many years ago I had dropped my mom off at the airport at JFK and wished her a happy trip home to Berlin, Germany. On my way home I had the queerest feeling inside. I had told my mother's boss I would take her place while she was gone and had done so many times before. I walked in the store the next morning and promptly announced I was leaving for Berlin by mid-week. I had a strong feeling I'd never see my grandmother again if I didn't. He pooh-pooed me but I left and enjoyed my trip. My grandmother was fine. Two weeks later I was on another plane headed back to Berlin to see my grandmother who had had a massive stroke and knew no one anymore. Fate? Yes, I believe it was! The last word I ever heard her say was "Puppa!" my nickname as I was growing up...it means doll. And that was it.

As everyone on this site already knows, I back science on every level, but I have to say, fate is definitely very, very real. I think that people can control their lives in terms of minor details, but on many levels, we have no control.

Now while I'm saying this, keep in mind destiny and fate are two different things.

Definition for fate -something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune

Definition for destiny- the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events

Fate is something that is definitely going to happen to a person, while destiny is what you are definitely, unavoidably going to do with your life, whether you like it or not. I think we have at least that much control over our lives.

I know to some, this argument may not make any sense, but you guys need to think about this. It's a tough topic to talk about, like life after death, or that sort of thing. The supernatural, paranormal, magical aspects of the universe aren't always obvious to the dull-minded, average person, but you never know, right?

We all have a fate to be somebody and do something, but that doesn't mean we have no say over our fate. We have free will and are able to make decisions in the present to alter the future. We may all have our own fates, but they are not set in stone.

I do believe that fate does exist. Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like. However, fate can be a misconseption; like the saying "everything happens for a reason," it's only a cover-up for the fact you don't have control over your own life.

If by "fate" you mean does random chance effect people's lives, then yes, of course. I think terms like "fate" and "destiny" get thrown around too much with out having a concrete definition behind them.

When you hold something heavy in your hand, hold it straight out in front of you, what would happen if you were to release it?

This is a simple prediction based on empirical wisdom. We all know the object will fall. How do we know this? How are we so sure it will fall, do we know the future? No. We've seen it happen a million times though and we somewhat understand the way mass and gravity work. Heavier things will accelerate to terminal velocity faster than lighter things because of their volume. The more volume per mass, the more or less something will be effected by the atmosphere. There is a lot involved with prediction, and the more complex something becomes the harder it is to predict.

Fate is a personified concept of time, or an event. An event with, or seeming to have, purpose. Really though, if the human mind had the capacity, and the human body have the same capacity, we could know everything. The future, the past. Like a game of chess, you could be five steps ahead of any event you wanted to counter, or even follow every event to it's end, if there be one.

The complexity involved is so fucking intense though, that the brain needed to comprehend all of this would have to be bigger than the universe and be forever thinking. This is where, I think, the idea of the universe and all of existence being nothing more than God's thought process comes from.

Maybe there are certain milestones you have to complete in your lifetime but you get to decide how you achieve those goals.

"does fate exist"

The word Fate is derived from the latin word Fata with its neutral plural form as Fatum. It's interesting to look further into the word Fatum as it has some original meanings which not only delve further into destiny/fate, but also seems to point to a word spoken by the gods or so it was a decision of the gods. It can also mean death hence the current use of words like fatal.

The word existence is from latin origin, some usages are to stand forth, come forth, arise, be.

In those respects, yes fate and exist are modern words from a latin origin.

"Does fate control everyone's lives or does one make their own destiny? "

free will comes to mind.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr;=&id;=6DrNDONGuAQC&oi;=fnd&pg;=PA128&dq;=Philosophy+Fate+vs+free+will&ots;=jIP-3jhoJi&sig;=XeSSNzwXPHjG3e8yTHJaU13467A

I know it doesn't sound romantic, but we are machines made up of organic matter. That is the purpose of our biology and genes; to continue to function until it can no longer can. You can expand this further to explain other organisms and even the universe.

My point. Your title of debate and statement whether we have free will or if we are pre-programmed, along with your argument sides (yes fate does exist vs no fate does not) is confusing and doesn't make sense.

On one hand you ask about the existence of fate. Fate is not being, it does not have life or animation nor does it come forth, appear or emerge. You then give fate the authority to control. Since when did fate have control? Can you prove of this control? On the other you speak to the existence of free will or being pre-programmed as a means of fate and destiny. What does fate or destiny have to do with human biology? How can one decide ones future if one does not know the future? Destiny, "the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events" how can free will have anything to this. How can one control a destiny? Do you see what i'm getting at?

I've said this in another post here before, but it's the only response I have for this question. If you believe in fate, go driving, let go of the wheel, and slam on the gas for a few minutes. Don't worry, if your not supposed to die, you won't, but if you are, we'll that's one less irrational person on our hands.

no, unless you can prove otherwise, it doesn't exist.

it's actually pretty simple. to you it may exist, but that doesn't change the fact that you have no evidence to back it up.

The only fate in this world is the one you force yourself to create. Life's a joke, so laugh.