Thoughts of determinism and fate

Cassius: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

—Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene III

Cassius asserts that the “fault “of “underlings” like himself and Brutus is their own. They have allowed themselves to live at the feet of Caesar, and unless they do something about it, they will die meaningless deaths and be forgotten in time. Like Cassius and Brutus, we, too, are responsible for our actions—all of us. And until we can start taking responsibility for why we are here, we will not get out of this hole.

More importantly, the fate of humanity may already be determined. In four billion years, the Sun will eventually die, which would be the end of society unless we find a way to occupy other planets. By then, that is the end of the story. We live in a tragedy that can’t be escaped. I will buy that if you want to call that fate or determinism. But the cosmic destiny of the gods is just a myth.

What we can choose, however, is to take responsibility again and not just throw our hands up in the air thinking there isn’t anything to do and nothing we do doesn’t matter anyway. The journey is worth taking. That is why we choose to get up in the morning. Life has meaning when we decide it does.