A Life Already Written, a Future Unknown. In the End, Attitude.

I tend to believe that everything in life is already determined.

That doesn’t mean I know what will happen. From where I stand, I have no idea. But I wonder whether there is already a course laid out within laws I don’t understand.

This might seem like an odd place to start, but let’s talk about water.

You may remember learning about the electrolysis of water in science class. Under the right conditions, it produces hydrogen at one electrode and oxygen at the other. At first, it seems remarkable. Once we learn the principles, we can explain why it happens.

But what if we tried explaining it to a five-year-old? They might be fascinated by the bubbles, but understanding what hydrogen and oxygen are, and why they appear, would be another matter.

Let’s take a simpler example. Let go of a ball and it falls to the floor. It is difficult to explain this in words to a newborn, but a child in kindergarten can let go of a ball and anticipate what happens next. They don’t need to know the word “gravity.”

Could we explain the electrolysis of water to a fish? At least in the way we learn and explain science, that would be difficult.

The ball falls and the water splits regardless of who understands it. What changes is how much of what happens we can understand and anticipate.

As we learn, we discover that the world follows consistent laws. We turn observations into formulas and laws, anticipate what will happen next, and build technologies from that knowledge. Much of the life we enjoy today rests on that process.

But we also discover how much we don’t know. Some fields, like quantum mechanics, are hard to reconcile with everyday intuition. Even familiar events can be difficult to predict precisely.

In water electrolysis, we can calculate how much hydrogen and oxygen should be produced under given conditions. Yet I can’t easily tell what will happen in my own life, or how someone will react to something I say.

And when I think about it, our bodies are made of matter too, with countless physical and chemical processes taking place inside them.

So I sometimes wonder:

What if the things we cannot predict lie beyond the limits of human understanding?

Just as a fish doesn’t know the science we understand, could there be some larger principle we fail to grasp? If a being understood the world far more broadly than humans do, might our future be something it could predict?

I simply think there may be ways the world works that we don’t know about, and that within them, my life might already be following a determined path.

But what difference does thinking this way actually make?

Some people might find comfort in the idea that everything is determined. Others might feel powerless. If it is all decided anyway, they might wonder why they should make an effort.

Here is how I think about it.

Okay, it might already be determined. I still want things to turn out well.

Some people get lucky and win the lottery. Others work incredibly hard and still don’t get into the university they wanted or pass the exam they prepared for. Some meet the person they will spend their lives with. Others believe they have, only to realize later that they haven’t.

Effort doesn’t guarantee the outcome we want. I might be lucky, or I might not. Plenty of things will happen that don’t go my way.

Even so, I don’t want to do nothing.

Just as you need to buy a lottery ticket to have a chance of winning, shouldn’t I at least do something in the direction of what I want? Even that attempt might be determined. But I have never been handed an answer sheet telling me how my life will unfold. From where I stand, I can only live it by trying things myself.

What if it doesn’t work out? I will be upset, of course. I will be disappointed. I might cry. But one thing going wrong doesn’t mean my life ends there. I can rest and try again, or look for another way.

I think I will still want to live well.

So this is what I want to tell myself.

You don't know what happens next. You might be lucky, or you might not. But you want things to go well, so give it a try. If it doesn't work out, try not to stay caught up in it for too long. Do what you can and keep moving. Enjoy some of it along the way.

That doesn't mean holding back your disappointment or your tears. You're human. You aren't a being that knows everything. Be upset when you're upset. Cry when you're sad. Then, when you can, keep living.

We don't know what life holds. Let's do our best. Let's try to be happy.

When I say “It will work out,” I am expressing how I want to live and what I want to believe, rather than claiming to know the future.

In the end, what remains for me is attitude. How do I want to live a life whose outcome I cannot know? I want to care about what I hope for without getting too caught up in every result. To make an effort, enjoy myself, and feel disappointed when things go wrong.

Of course, I will contradict myself sometimes. I might write all this and then spend far too long dwelling on an outcome. I might say I want to work hard and still have days when I do nothing. Someone might wonder, “Is this guy really trying?”

I’m human too. I don’t think I can bring the same attitude to every day. But this is the thought I want to return to.

My life may already be written. I still want to live it well.