Fatalism

Image of an old theater stage with red curtains and a script paper covered in countless lines, locked in place.
Like a theater that announces its finale before the show begins, fatalism seizes the ending of any narrative in advance.
Faith & Philosophy

Description

Fatalism is a philosophical thief that shelves the troublesome question of one’s own will and grandly declares everything to be predetermined. The more one pursues freedom, the more one is confronted with the futility of such a claim. It spares us the labor of taking responsibility for our actions while providing the guilty pleasure of blaming someone else, yet imposes the despair of knowing nothing can ever be changed. Ultimately, when one learns that even the effort to defy fate was itself part of the grand prearranged script, one is wrapped in exquisite irony.

Definitions

  • A doctrine that erases the illusion of human free will with a bold stroke, forcing all actions into the status of preordained facts.
  • A merciless weather forecast announcing that the highs and lows of your future were reserved for you at birth.
  • A narcotic creed that strips away the need to bear responsibility for one’s actions while offering the comfortable armchair of otherness.
  • A paradoxical toast that destroys the bliss of hope and gifts you the resignation of despair.
  • A cruel structure that slams shut the door of possibility and makes every choice transparent from the start.
  • An ironic illusion that silences dreamers of change and frames the flow of time as nothing more than a predetermined route.
  • A theatrical device that convinces actors to trust the playwright called Fate while denying them any line of dialogue.
  • A theoretical dictatorship that demonizes chance and proclaims necessity in all things.
  • A philosophical easy chair that readily denies challenges and provides the sweet slumber of surrender.
  • A ruthless tyrant of reason that corrals one’s dignified autonomy into a bland narrative.

Examples

  • “My life is all predetermined,” says the man who checks his daily horoscope app each morning.
  • “It’s pointless to resist fate,” declares the neighbor who promises to start dieting next week.
  • “Stars decide everything,” boasts the high school girl who splurges on fortune-telling sites.
  • “Free will? A mere illusion,” he scoffs while repeatedly pressing the elevator button.
  • “If you believe in fatalism, effort is meaningless,” claims the college student cramming grammar overnight.
  • “In the end, everything’s already set,” says the boss as the subordinate applies for leave tomorrow.
  • “Might as well blame my constellation,” he tells his girlfriend as he forgets her birthday gift.
  • “I’ll embrace my destiny!” proclaims the driver caught in a traffic jam at that very moment.
  • “Life is just a prewritten novel,” says the poet who is busy writing his autobiography.
  • “You can’t change fate,” she insists, yet changes her cellphone wallpaper every day.
  • “Fatalism is the ultimate truth,” pronounces the philosophy lecturer and promptly spills coffee.
  • “The future is already decided,” he boasts as he prepares meeting slides the night before.
  • “No matter what you do, it’s fate,” grumbles the old man who buys lottery tickets weekly.
  • “There’s no such thing as chance,” he insists while complaining about the train delay.
  • “Fate is penned by the divine,” says the pastor who forgets the church meeting schedule.
  • “Free will is just fate’s staging,” quips the actress who constantly argues with the director.
  • “Don’t defy destiny,” says the master as his apprentice habitually skips practice.
  • “Fatalism is ruthless,” he muses, clutching a plush toy as he drifts to sleep.
  • “In the end, we all walk the same path,” laments the middle-aged jogger who never misses a run.
  • “Life is a script,” she whispers, flipping through TV channels with her remote.

Narratives

  • [Incident Report] The self-proclaimed fatalist increased the number of hobbies in a vain effort to change his destined path.
  • In the fatalism lecture, students yawning in unison constituted a predetermined phenomenon.
  • Those fond of the word fate devoted more passion to excuses than to action.
  • She claimed everything was preordained yet managed her daily schedule with ruthless precision.
  • The poet obsessed with fatalism concluded that even his own verses were mere fate’s entertainment.
  • Speakers of destiny were often lenient about others’ choices but ruthless toward their own failures.
  • On his desk denying chance lay a pile of unused lottery tickets.
  • In the boardroom echoing with laments about fate, everyone pictured a tyrannical boss.
  • The priest preaching fatalism answered parishioners instantly but broke every promise to himself.
  • If all were predetermined, apologies and congratulations were nothing but scripted lines.
  • It was rumored that those who embraced fate possessed bodies eager to trip at any moment.
  • On the fatalism bookshelf, the same single volume forever gathered dust.
  • They excelled at foreseeing future tragedies yet remained oblivious to present comforts.
  • Once one believed in fate, one developed a genius for planning every detail.
  • At fatalism conventions, even laughter was just a scheduled sound effect.
  • Every time someone uttered fatalism, the room’s air reportedly froze momentarily.
  • Those who proclaimed life a script often ended with the most banal of endings.
  • Critics of fatalism unwittingly proved themselves pawns of the doctrine in doing so.
  • The moment he insisted he couldn’t change his fate, the elevator promptly responded.
  • The nostalgic pastime called fatalism continues to justify someone’s laziness today.

Aliases

  • Fate Post Office
  • Scenario Artisan
  • Future Forecaster
  • Deliverer of Resignation
  • Chance Eliminator
  • Preset Switch
  • Autopilot Button
  • Karma Holder
  • Guardian of Destiny
  • Necessity Machine
  • Director of Fate
  • Stage Device of Destiny
  • Scale of Sorrows and Joys
  • Culpability Void
  • Action Freezer
  • Sarcasm Distributor
  • Fatalism Token
  • Prophecy Liar
  • Option Eraser
  • Resignation Software

Synonyms

  • Quirk of Destiny
  • Professor of Negation
  • Lawyer of Fate
  • Result Puppet Show
  • Necessity Pass
  • Resignation Recipe
  • Shadow Playwright
  • Karma Manufacturer
  • Future Vending Machine
  • Immutable Machine
  • Fountain of Irony
  • Script Shop of Fate
  • Endless Loop Device
  • Pilot of Protocol
  • Ghost of Chance
  • Gravekeeper of Choices
  • Guide of Inevitability
  • Resistance Nullifier
  • Censer of Resignation
  • Chains of Predestination