The story of the Titanic


The story of the Titanic contains so many cosmic lessons, and not just about tragedy born of hubris. How about free will vs. fate? How about the butterfly effect? Free will to me is like the maneuverability of a gigantic ship, whose speed and direction at any given moment are in fact largely predetermined by natural laws and the accumulated effects of past events. It takes a long time to slow or turn a big ship, because of its great momentum and wide turning radius. The course of the future can be altered with intent, but only within a narrow range of operation. And even thoughts themselves echo the past. So the choices you have, or can even conceive of, at any one time are restricted to a narrow, effectively predetermined set. All the same, small initial changes can be amplified into huge differences downstream (the butterfly effect). After the iceberg had been spotted, the Titanic's bridge officer apparently waited half a minute before giving the order to change course. Had the order been given immediately – maybe even 15 seconds sooner – the ship might not have hit the iceberg and sunk two hours and forty minutes later! So your options at any given time may be limited by the weight of the past, but a minor decision can have huge effects down the line. All the same, real freedom only comes when you move beyond the hopeless dichotomy of free will vs. determinism. If you effortlessly live in the present, the whole question becomes moot; there is only presence now and only awareness of being.


— Gabriel Fenteany, November 23, 2015


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