No.

God, I hope so.

For the longest time I thought I had a destiny waiting for me to grow into. But as I’ve aged, the feeling that I’ve HAD to be so involved in fulfilling that destiny has mellowed, a lot. I guess, where I am now, I look at it more as a question of where and how I fit into the big picture than actually having some cosmic job or purpose.

Oh, and whatever that "fitting in" is is still beyond my grasp.

Everyone has a destiny to be something. What it is, only destiny knows.

I'm more of a free will guy.

There is no destiny, no fate, no "meaning to life". It's all what you make of it.

Why is everybody all navel-gaze-y all of a sudden?

I'll be with bmarkey over here in the existentialist corner.

On failure to preview: and with box, too.

No. It's just circumstances and opportunities.

Pretty sure destiny is a man-made concept. If I'm wrong, see you in hell my friends.

So what your telling me here is that it all adds up to nothing but a selection of choices made by a person based souly on that person's individual life expirence?

Bingo.

I guess scientifically, we're individually and collectively destined to be space dust, orbiting a dead or dying star. Unless a black hole eats us first :)

I'm over in bmarkey's corner too.

No destiny here for me. At least I hope not. Although free will? Well, I guess it depends on how you define it. I'm of the belief that the "mind" and "personality" are products of our physical bodies, ie. our neurons etc. so at one level I don't believe in free will insofar as it pertains to having a separate soul or whatever. So maybe I do believe in destiny. But not, I think, the destiny to which you are referring.

You're my density.

*sits in the corner*

I think we're supposed to learn, and I think that what goes around comes around. But no, no destiny. It is what it is.

Well, there is biological determinism (if I understand that the way I think I do) so that's a kind of destiny.

I guess it comes down to meaning... Meaning found in purpose, purpose found in destiny (a belief in). It is hard for me to consider everything to be nothing more than one big autopoietic system that ultimately has no meaning or purpose. I like to thing we're all on a journey somewhere, even if that somewhere is nowhere.

I'm a faith-based organism, which can be a mighty unpopular specimen around the MetaVerse, so I'll just quietly put my card in the "yes" box.

I define "destiny" rather loosely, and I'm not terribly fond of the word in general, but I think "circumstances and opportunities" and "destiny" are two ways of approaching fundamentally the same concept. One could think of circumstances and opportunities as a series of provisions for fulfilling one's destiny, for example. One view does no harm to the other - I find them mutually supportive in my mind. It all depends on how you order your world view, I guess.

Think of a concept like a "calling." We define that as something in which people are inclined to excel or succeed through a "natural" gift or predisposition, or some "inborn" talent. Given the aforementioned combination of circumstances and opportunities - a nurturing family, say, or an exceptional education, or access to resources - these gifts or passions could reasonably develop into a vocation or a way of life. We often speak endearingly of young children as being "destined" for one thing or another based on their early prejudices, and while this is a sentimental example, it still speaks to this notion that each person has some fundamental excellence which is natural to them.

Even so, I do believe that a certain amount of diligence or commitment is required on the part of the gifted person. Just because you're given a talent or skill doesn't mean you'll make any good use of it, or pursue it to its fullest possible extent, or rise above your fear or self-doubt or laziness or what-have-you in order to express it. Each of us is given handicaps and challenges and roadblocks. It still requires hard work and patience and perseverance and all that good stuff. But I think noble striving is also part of the fulfillment of "destiny," as it were. So, yeah. Destiny is difficult and has trap-doors built in, in my mind, and it takes a lot of strength and self-sacrifice to stay true to your natural vision.

The more I use it, the more I rather dislike the word itself. But there are important concepts buried in there by which I guide my life.

(Nb.: Not intending to start a spirituality war. One man's bloody opinion, etc.)

I’m not so sure about Destiny, but I have seen some people who were perfect fits for where they ended up in life.

I dunno, mykescipark - you're talking about biological aptitute, supported by situation and coincidence. We can define destiny that way, if you like, but it seems to take the whole "someone's got a plan for us" out of it. Which, I guess, is the part I don't like about destiny in the first place.

mightshould - thanks mechanical egg sorters, jumbo-sized eggs end up in the jumbo egg carton, while large eggs end up in the large carton. Does that mean that a particular egg is destined for a particular carton? Hmm...

mudd: I don't believe in a divine "someone" who orders our universe around us to make particular things happen, but I think - if this isn't getting too new-agey, which it might - that our lives order themselves around our intentions, desires, actions, etc. And that is a form of destiny-fulfillment, if you ask me. This is quickly getting into that rhetorically difficult territory where indefensible statements of faith get thrown around, so I'll stop while I'm a few points behind. I'm willing to call it a difference of viewpoint.

I really don't think fate or such has much to do with it. No real plan is out there. But, hopefully we can get to whatever it is in life that we are happy doing (which often seems to be what others call destiny.)

Examples I can give are purely personal, see below:
As a little kid my hubby wanted his Mom to read to him from the encyclopedia, not other books. As a young kid his first business was cleaning old mortar off bricks, and he drafted other kids in the area to sub-contract. He never fit in at traditional places, but ended up with his own business and an invention. He was able to make somewhere he fit through hard work and determination; and I'm not sure, but I think fate/destiny was sometimes fighting him along the way. We were always broke, and had to be very creative to find ways to support his dream.

Heck YES we have destinies!

YESYESYESYESYES!!!!!!!!!!!1

(and I too am a faith based organism and do just fine around here, if that matters.)

Not from my perspective, nope. I'm okay with that, for me and for others who believe differently as well.

I think we end up where we end up.

I do not believe we are born with a destiny or a purpose.

The contrary thought about destiny is we think of it as being a good outcome. If everyone is acting out their destiny, then it's pretty sad to think of all the people who have hideous lives as living out their destiny...

What gaspode said.

You may want to check this guy out. Pretty amazing stuff, and only the beginning.

"Destiny" may not be as destined as we think.

Some interesting follow-up.

Follow-up Part 2 (re: free will and time travel).

(head hurt yet?)

i've done my bit
and have been stalling on getting on with the rest.

It seems I'm following ethylene around tonight. Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

I don't believe in destiny, luck, fate, or any of that stuff. I believe that we make decisions, and that everything follows from allllll those forks in the road. Imagine, if you will, how many options you are faced with before you leave the house each day!

For the record, I have met many a faith-y person, and liked many. It's really, really not for me. That's all.

I don't really identify with the word "destiny", because I believe we have free choice. I believe we are all called to do something (the Quaker concept of "having a leading"), and that something has to do with using our talents in the best ways possible.

I'm a faith-based organism, which can be a mighty unpopular specimen around the MetaVerse, so I'll just quietly put my card in the "yes" box.
Don't ever feel that you can't express your beliefs/opinions openly here (on MeCha). We may not all agree with you, but you have an unalienable right to have your say here.

I think we have a loose destiny and that we are given choices to make all the time - the choice we make now subtly alters our destiny for the rest of our lives. Kind of like the butterfly effect thing - every tiny choice you make today opens up x number of possible futures and closes off others.

As usual, Pink Floyd captured my feelings long before I had them:

They flutter behind you your possible pasts
some brighteyed and crazy some frightened and lost
a warning to anyone still in command
of their possible future to take care

FWIW, I've always been attracted to the ancient Greek idea that the mysterious "Fates" have some sort of natural power that even the gods can't override.