Deterministic Quotes

“I would have liked to experience more of the heptapods' worldview, to feel the way they feel. Then, perhaps I could immerse myself fully in the necessity of events, as the must, instead of merely wading in its surf for the rest of my life.”
― Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others

“A person’s perception on the existence of free will affects how they perceive reality. Rather than exercising any resistance against the inevitability of the future, philosophical pessimists resign themselves to accept whatever will happen. I do believe in limited free will, in part, because I am unwilling to accept that the choices we make and our hard work to accomplish personal goals is a silly frivolity. The universe is conceivably an unstable entity subject to random events and chance encounters producing unexpected and unanticipated events.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“The majority of scientist and philosophers currently believe that determinism and free will are compatible. Perhaps our world is largely deterministic; we can trace the outcome of many events to one specific cause. Equally probable is the possibility that multiple causes contribute to the outcome of a particular event, and we can link some of the causation factors to pure chance or coincidence. If the universe is not a deterministic system, then human evolution was not a foregone conclusion but a product of multiple causes including specific physical events, random mutation, and absolute chance. If the universe is not deterministic, then human beings potentially possess a modicum of free will. While there are inherent limitations on what people can will, the ability to make contemplative, conscious decisions allows us to modify whom we are and whom we are determines how we act. For instance, a person cannot will himself or herself to be a genius, but they can choose to learn as much as possible. Therefore, we are in fact responsible for our final character and the outcome of our life.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“We are wildeterminists. We blame fate sometimes. We brag we did it all by ourselves sometimes. Sometimes, we regret not acting with our free will at a time point for our failures in life. We are neither here nor there, and so we are nowhere.”
― Udayakumar D.S., FT Legacy 1: Who is Frank Twine?