We have no control

To be sure, we are not the masters over our fate that we sometimes like to pretend. When I accepted this debate, I had no idea that later in the day I would be visited by an acquaintance that was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. She’s had multiple surgeries, including a hysterectomy, but even after she begins chemotherapy, the stage 4 cancer is unlikely to be put into remission. Doctors estimate she has less than a year left to live. Clearly, she is not in complete control of her destiny, for who would choose this. But does she have any control at all? Do any of us? In this debate, we shall explore that unsettling question, and I shall argue yes. We do. First I want to ask – how would each of us react to that news? Would we respond with anger at God’s unfairness? Appreciation for the life He has let us live, however brief? Would we taste excitement for the prospect of heaven? Perhaps fear that heaven may not really exist? Or peace that hell does not? Would we give in to the darkness of despondency? Could we still find the joy to laugh? Would we dare to hope? Not even the thoughts which feel like our own are “chosen” by us. Perform a brief exercise by closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing. Only on your breathing. Nothing else. Go. How long could you do this before other thoughts and ideas are popping into your head? Probably not long. And even if you are well practiced at meditation, your brain is still an idea machine, difficult to silence, and seemingly random in its generation of thoughts. Additionally, we cannot consciously choose what our next thought will be, it is a surprise. Charlie Sheen. Why did I think of Charlie, looking straight at me and saying “winning?” Who knows? By the time something enters our consciousness it is the end result of a myriad of processes we barely understand, run through places in the brain we have no conscious control over. Do we directly control our heartbeats? Do we control how much insulin gets produced and released, the speed of our metabolism, or whether mutation of a cancerous cell occurs? But can we not also exert some influence over these impulses? I am going to need water, but isn’t it my choice to drink it before I’m thirsty, or wait until I am thirsty? Which is healthier? I can choose to research that. I don’t get to decide if I have a heart attack directly, but surely I have influence over whether I form a deliberate habit of eating pizza every night or eating salad. Habits are difficult to break, but they can be broken. We don’t get to choose thoughts, but we do seem to have some veto power over our impulses, and the ability to process those thoughts and decide what we think is most important. I can’t control whether I have a family history of cancer, but I can influence how early it is detected by regular checkups and testing. Even the probability of a stubbed toe can be influenced, even though it can’t be directly controlled. By arranging one’s furniture properly, selecting flooring carefully, and keeping a clean house, one could minimize the possibility of a stubbed toe. If doing so is imperative, one could even choose to walk around in steel toed boots day and night. If being successful is imperative, then studying hard, working hard, networking, and taking chances are ways to improve one’s chances. True, nothing guarantees success on the level of becoming a billionaire, or world-famous, or married to a supermodel. But do we not also have the choice to determine to some extent our own definition of “success”? Another associate of mine decided to quit the job we just promoted him to, sell everything he has, and move to a cabin in the woods of Canada with his fiancé. He’ll hunt for food. Has he not influenced the course of his life with such a decision such as that? If a man defines living off the land as freedom, and freedom as success, then can’t he take measures to secure success? If a man stubs his toe in the forest, did he not decide to put himself there in the first place?