Board Thread:The Last Sovereign Discussion/@comment-27713488-20180327004110/@comment-27713488-20180409111143

DukeLeto7 wrote: If you're a determinist who believes that the entirety of the physical universe is the inevitable working out of the consequences of the laws of physics, then you shouldn't get angry that there's rain storm that forced the cancellation of that picnic you wanted to have with your girlfriend. You don't scream "Curse your black heart, barometric pressure, solar input fueled vaporization and prevailing winds! You've thwarted me for the last time!" But if you believe in Zeus, there's someone to blame. Most people's objections to their having a "fate" is the clear implication that their "destiny" is being controlled by some outside agency. I don't think this holds together at all. You shouldn't get angry when bad things happen, because no one caused them? Strictly speaking, there's no advantage to anger about anything whatsoever, except insofar as it allows you to perform adrenaline-fueled physical feats, persuade people in ways your natural acting ability can't, or overcome other mental conditions like lack of motivation. There's nothing special about the case of someone being behind the bad things that makes anger the correct reaction. Hartan wrote: Put another way, and to paraphrase Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, to the extent an omnipotent God exists, can there really be any contest between "Good" and "Evil"? Isn't everything just a complicated game of solitaire? There's probably no omnipotent god in this setting. Also, omnipotence isn't the same as being the creator or prime mover of everything. DukeLeto7 wrote: You're also overloading "predetermined" with the connotation "by someone". Is he? I don't see how, nor how it even matters to his point.