Decoding Destiny

I've noticed an interesting, and oddly consistent, thread that runs through nearly all stories, movies, television shows, and books. That thread is destiny.

The concept of "destiny" affects everything from tragedies ("star-crossed lovers") to silly romantic comedies. It was such a romantic comedy which drew me to this subject. In particular, I want to discuss the popular idea that destiny leads us to good things, or the things we're meant to have or do.

In the film, the female lead learns at a young age the name of the man who is to be her true love, essentially informing her of her destiny (via a ouija board, as obvious a means for destiny to speak to her as could be devised). Later in life, as she nears her wedding to someone else, she is reminded of this prediction and learns of a man by the name given by "destiny". So strong is her belief in destiny that she travels to Europe to meet this man, to see if perhaps destiny's choice would be better than her own.

What could possibly account for the strength of the woman's faith in destiny? The idea of destiny, brought to the forefront in this film, can be seen throughout a large number of the stories told. I think we even sympathize, if lightly, with the heroine's desire to see if her destiny may after all be right for her, better even than the non-destined choice she had already made.

What really intrigues me about this, however, is the practicality of it. What is destiny? What force creates and enforces it? What motivations does that force have?

In order to believe so strongly in destiny and behave as she does, the heroine must have several underlying, if unstated and unexamined, assumptions. In the film, there is absolutely no mention of any religion, and the heroine appears to be the typical Hollywood American, with no religious affiliation whatsoever. We can guess this implies an agnostic who gives no thought to religion but nevertheless has a vestigial belief in the western Judeo-Christian moral tradition, since this is the typical Hollywood model.

Among the assumptions which are required for destiny to make sense, let's take a look at a few.

1) A supernatural world exists.

For destiny to be real and meaningful, there must be a spiritual or mystical aspect to reality which cannot be measured or explained by standard scientific means. The physical reality we understand does not allow for the possibility of knowing things before they happen, and contains no concept that an event "should happen" or was "supposed to happen." The reality we experience only notes that an event "could happen" or "could not happen," and then that it "did happen" or "did not happen."

The concept of destiny also indicates that our minds are able to tap into this mystical or spiritual realm in a way that we can't describe or explore through the tools of science. Somehow, and for some reason, our minds are connected with the notion of destiny and can observe it and in some cases understand it.

2) An omnipotent (or nearly omnipotent) God-like entity exists.

Whether we're talking about the concrete Jahweh of Judaism and Christianity (and arguably Islam), one of the powers (either good or bad) from Dualism, or the vague deity of pantheism, there must be some sort of great force at work in the world. This force must either be able to see the future (to plan things), or be able to alter the future in order to cause things to happen. Given omnipotence these may amount to the same thing.

Some have believed that destiny can operate independently of some sort of god (see the Greek concept of the Fates, who had authority over even the gods themselves). However, in order for destiny to make sense, there must be some sort of intelligence guiding events -- the very notion of destiny is that things happen as they should happen, or as they have been planned to happen. A plan requires a planner. Some also seem to think that a non-personal (or sub-personal) force could cause events, but this is meaningless. Even if it were true, there would be no way to know. The influence from an impersonal force would be indistinguishable from the impersonal forces already applied by nature generally. Destiny is defined by an intelligent plan, which in turn requires a personal or super-personal entity to form and implement it.

3) The God-like entity desires good for people.

The heroine pursues her destiny because she assumes that it will be better than the non-destined life she would otherwise live. She presumes that the intelligent, planning force in the universe not only has the power to predestine events in her life, but that the force wants what's best for her. If there was even a possibility that her destiny would be bad for her or worse than the life she would otherwise live, then it would not make sense for her to pursue it so vigorously.

This is an interesting assumption. It's consistent with a belief in the Judeo-Christian God, but not with many other possibilities. If Dualism is true, then it seems just as likely that the bad power has predestined bad things for a given person than that the good power has predestined good things. Similarly, in pantheism everything in the universe is a part of the deity, including the bad things -- therefore there's no reason to expect a deity composed of both good and evil to necessarily predestine only good. Only in the Judeo-Christian tradition does the ultimate authority desire only good for people.

We can see that the very concept of destiny presupposes some sort of god, and a realm beyond the physical world that we observe which can affect the reality we experience. Thus we find the underpinnings of religion in a vast range of stories. Moreover, we find that perhaps the only religious system which actually fits the assumptions necessary for destiny to be real is the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Judging by the various stories which assume destiny is true but do not acknowledge Christianity or its God, it is apparently much easier to believe in destiny than Christianity. However, belief in destiny but not in Jahweh implies that it's possible to believe in one and not the other. While destiny may not specifically require the Judeo-Christian God, it seems as though destiny requires a God who shares nearly all properties with the God of the Bible, and seems to preclude nearly all other possibilities. At the very least, it makes little sense to remain an agnostic who believes that nothing of importance can really be known about God, while at the same time believing in a concept which demands that God have many very specific properties.

I find the concept of destiny so intriguing because it appears to be a way in which society unintentionally acknowledges the existence and sovereignty of God, in what seems to be the societal equivalent of a message from the unconscious mind. This concept, which presupposes nearly all the properties of the Christian God, finds its way into nearly every story we tell. I hope that in the future, when people find themselves believing that destiny is a real thing in the world, that they'll consider what that really means.