Is the future written? Does anybody really know? The future is defined as: a time regarded as still to come; events that will happen after the present time (which has not yet occurred). It is a the chance of continuing success or existence for something; something that will happen or exist later. It is a period of time following the moment of speaking or writing. So, as I sit here writing this article, time keeps moving forward into the future. The future is a part of "time," and "time" cannot be stopped. We live in the present, but as we live in the present, we keep lunging toward the future. We may REMEMBER the past and LIVE the present, but what do we do in the future? A person cannot have the ability to bring to one's mind an awareness of (someone or something) that one has seen, known, or experienced in the future.
First, we ask the question: what does in mean when we say that "the future is written" or that "the future is not written?" If we say the future IS written, then we are applying the idea of fatalism and destiny. Destiny refers to the concept of life as a predetermined sequence of events. Fatalism is the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. So, if future IS written and there is anything you would like to change the events in your life, you will NOT be able to change them. You will not be able to change them because the future has already been decided for you. So, going by destiny and fatalism, people cannot change the way events will happen and that bad events cannot be avoided. Look at the Final Destination franchise. The story-lines are pretty much the same. A particular person has a premonition about an impending disaster. They save themselves, as well as several other people. But "Death" comes back for them because they were originally suppose to die in the disaster, of which the protagonist had a premonition. Now, let's look at the Back to the Future Trilogy. In Back to the Future II, Doc Brown and Marty McFly time travel into the "future" (Wednesday, October 21, 2015). During their time there, they discovered that there were older versions of Marty and his girlfriend: Jennifer. They had gotten married and had two children in the course of 30 years. Seeing the future and finding out where you live, what has happened in your life, and what you had become would prove that the future IS written. If you are able to travel into the future, staying on the same timeline, and you come across information that an older version of yourself exists, this would indicate that you are seeing future that has been set; a future that has been predestined; a future you couldn't or can't change; a future written in stone. The degree to which destiny is predetermined is heavily contested. There are two main schools of thought: (1.) Destiny as fate implies a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, where an individual has no choice and must embrace their fate. (2.) Destiny as a choice suggests that individuals define their own destiny, by choosing different paths throughout their life.
Now, how would these movies be affected if the future was NOT written? Well, in the Final Destination franchise, "Death" would NOT come back to try to take them. The whole point of a "written future" in this series is that "Death" comes back to try to take you because you were suppose to die in a particular disaster and you didn't die when it was "your time." "Death" would not care if you survived a catastrophe because if the future is NOT written, then there would be no such notion as "your time." You would simply know that you will die under a different circumstance someday, be thankful that you're still alive, and move on with your life (however long that may be). In Back to the Future II, if the future had NOT been written, that would mean that when Doc Brown and Marty McFly arrived in 2015, they would find out that both Marty and Jennifer had gone "missing" in 1985 and there wouldn't be any "older version of themselves" because their lives would have skipped over that 30-year time period to instantaneously arrive in 2015 (still at the age they were in 1985). They wouldn't be able to see their "future-selves" because their was no written future to arrive at and explore. Thus, when you time travel 30 years into the future, you will disappear for that 30 years. Now, you may think: "But if Marty and Jennifer go back to 1985, and then, live the next 30 years of their lives, wouldn't that mean that when their 'younger-selves' arrive in 2015, they would be able to see their 'older-selves'?" Sure! If there was a "written future" to arrive at, then yes. They would be able to time travel to 2015 see their "older-selves," time travel back to 1985, live their lives for 30 years, then have their "younger-selves" arrive in 2015 so they could see (to them) their "older-selves." This is, of course, if the future was written. However, if the future is NOT written, then that would not be the case. In the case for an "unwritten future," they would be able to time travel to 2015 (but NOT see their "older-selves"), time travel back to 1985, live their lives for 30 years (expecting to see their younger-selves in 2015), but (much to their surprise) they wouldn't see their "younger-selves" arrive in 2015. Doesn't seem to make much sense, does it? Now, in an "unwritten future," why would this be? Well, let's look at the Terminator franchise. Mainly in the first three installments, we hear the quote: "The future is not written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." This philosophy is more existential, which means that it's an approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. This school of thought postulates that existence precedes essence. That is, human beings—through their consciousness—create their own values and determine a meaning for their life because the human being does not possess any inherent identity or value. That identity or value must be created by the individual. If you believe it is a world of choice, you regard your life as a product of your own decisions. We have control over what happens to us in the future. There is nothing that will happen for sure. We determine our future from what we do now. We make our own future from our own actions, and nothing or no one else is responsible. So, let's go back to our Back to the Future II example... In the case for an "unwritten future," they would be able to time travel to 2015 (but NOT see their "older-selves"), time travel back to 1985, live their lives for 30 years (expecting to see their younger-selves in 2015), but (much to their surprise) they wouldn't see their "younger-selves" arrive in 2015. Why? Well, remember, this is a world of "choice," and thus, we are able to change the future. So, if Marty and Jennifer can time travel to 2015 (where they disappeared for that 30 years), time travel back to 1985 and live their lives for 30 years, they would not see their "younger-selves" in 2015 because they had created a new timeline; a timeline where they DIDN'T DISAPPEAR for 30 years. The timeline skewed into a tangent, creating a alternate reality; a reality where they had not time traveled. If we wanted to change that alternate reality into another one, would it be possible? In a world with an "unwritten future," absolutely! How many? As many as we'd like. "No fate but what we make," right? In a world with an "unwritten future," the possibilities are endless. Each decision we make in our lives affect our future in so many ways. Just be careful what kind of future you could write in an "unwritten future." You have to take into account an inadvertent "Butterfly Effect" (the scientific theory that the smallest cause, no matter how small, can have immense effects and change the course of all events thereafter) that may be irreversible. Beware of the fact that you can't save one thing without destroying something else. This comes from the idea of a butterfly caught in a spider's web. You can't save the butterfly without killing the spider (e.g. through violence or starvation).
The notion of an unwritten future would refer to idea of "free will." Free will is: the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion. It is the ability to make choices without any prior prejudice, inclination, or disposition. Free is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action. It is closely linked to the concepts of responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. Free will is derived from the Latin: "Liberum arbitrium" and the Greek: "Eléftheri voúlisi." The word used in Classical Rome would be "voluntas," meaning "wish," "desire," "choice," "inclination," "disposition," "mood," "attitude," "goodwill," "meaning," "sense," or "purpose." However, if you want to allude to the Christian or Western philosophical tradition (which is where the concept of free will was more deeply discussed), the common expression would be not "voluntas," but "liberum arbitrium." This was the expression used by the greatest of the Catholic philosophers/theologians, such as Augustine (4th-5th century) and Thomas Aquinas (13th century), among many others. Free will is mainly a notion of existentialism, from the Greek: "yparxismós." But what is existentialism, exactly? Well, existentialism is: a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. The first prominent existentialist philosopher to adopt the term as a self-description was Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). Sartre posits the idea that "what all existentialists have in common is the fundamental doctrine that existence precedes essence." This means that the most important consideration for individuals is that they are individuals—independently acting and responsible, conscious beings ("existence")—rather than what labels, roles, stereotypes, definitions, or other preconceived categories the individuals fit ("essence"). Man will not be anything until later, and then he/she will be what he/she makes of himself/herself. The important part of this notion is not that there is human nature or God to have a conception of man, but that man simply "is." Not that he/she is simply what he/she conceives himself/herself to be, but he/she is what he/she wills, and as he/she conceives himself/herself after already existing — as he/she wills to be after that leap towards existence. Man is nothing else but that which he/she makes of himself/herself. Thus, human beings, through their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their life and that there is no meaning in the world beyond what meaning we give it. As far as the Holy Bible is concerned, an existentialist reading of the Holy Bible would demand that the reader recognize that he/she is an existing subject studying the words more as a recollection of events. This is in contrast to looking at a collection of "truths" that are outside and unrelated to the reader, but may develop a sense of reality (i.e. God).
From a Biblical perspective, is the future written? Can destiny and choice coexist? When we make our own choices, does God already know the outcome of them? Can human beings really predict the future? Well, when it comes to the Holy Bible, the answer to the those questions would be: Is it something that God wants you to know? Besides, is there any way a human being can obtain information about the future? Well, this is when we get into the subject of divination. But what IS divination, really? It's a common misconception that divination is simply a means of foretelling the future. But is it slightly more generalized than that. Divination is: the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. The word: divination comes from the Latin: "divinare," meaning "to foresee" or "to be inspired by a god," and the Greek: "profítis" meaning "predictor," "prodikázo," meaning "preconceive," or "mántis," meaning "soothsayer" (fortune-teller). So, to practice divination is to uncover hidden knowledge by supernatural means. In other words, to practice divination is to try to find out things that only God is suppose to know. Human beings wanting to find out what God only knows is not a recent fad. If you really think about it, it goes clear back to The Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The serpent deceived Eve (knowing that God had told she and Adam not to eat of the Tree in the middle of the Garden) by saying, in Genesis 3:5: "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The serpent was basically saying: "You will know what God knows. And not only will you know what God knows, but you will be like God once you know it." This would be temping to ANY human being. And what is one of the things that God knows that we human beings don't? Why, the future, of course! Think of it! How convenient would it be to know the future? Divination (such as trying to obtain information about the future) has been practiced for thousands of years. During ancient times, people have used divination to gain knowledge of the future or as a way to make money. The practice continues as those who claim supernatural insight read palms, tea leaves, tarot cards, star charts, and more. God tells us His view of divination in Deuteronomy 18:10-11: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead." And why? It goes on to say in verse 12 that "Anyone who does these things is 'detestable to the Lord;'" In Leviticus 19:26, it says: "... 'Do not practice divination or seek omens." First Samuel 15:23 compares rebellion to the "sin of divination" when the Prophet Samuel informed Saul that the Lord had rejected him as king. Practicing divination is listed as one of the reasons for Israel’s exile in 2 Kings 17:17. Jeremiah 14:14 spoke of the false prophets of the time, saying: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds." As Luke traveled with Paul and Silas in the city of Philippi, he recorded an encounter with a diviner in Acts 16:16 when they: "were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling." The girl’s ability to penetrate mysteries was due to a demon that controlled her. Her masters received "much gain" from their slave. Paul eventually exorcised the demon in verse 18 freeing the girl from her spiritual bondage and angering the slave owners in verse 19. Divination in any form is sin. It is not harmless entertainment or an alternate source of wisdom. Christians should avoid any practice related to divination, including fortune-telling, astrology, witchcraft, tarot cards, necromancy, and spell-casting. The spirit world is REAL, but it is NOT innocent. According to Scripture, those spirits that are not the Holy Spirit or angels but evil spirits (i.e. demons). You see, the truth of the matter is: demons know the future, just like God and His angels. And when you practice divination and ask the demons tell to you the future, they will. Not only will they tell you the future, but the truth about the future (good or bad). They won't lie about it. The things they tell you will actually happen. So, even though Christians do not need to fear the evil spirits that are involved in divination, they are not to seek wisdom from them, either. The Christian’s wisdom comes from God as it says in James 1:5. If you want to know more about the sin of divination, you can read about it in my article: "Divination: Why and Why Not?" (Published Thursday, October 31, 2013).
So, in a sense, any form of divination, is: trying to find out things that God does not want you to know. And it becomes evident that God does not want you to know the future. If He wanted you to know the future, He would have written it in the Holy Bible. And there are some prophetic passages in the Holy Bible. They are in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. There are other Scriptures that refer to human beings and the future. Ecclesiastes 7:14 says: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future." Ecclesiastes 8:7 says: "Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?" It seem that everything has a fate that has been decided already. God is the author of "our books" and He has already written all of our biographies, for the Holy Bible says in Psalm 102:18: "Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:." It goes on to say in Proverbs 16:9 that: "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps" and Proverbs 19:21, which says: "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." This does not mean that God will never let your plans come to pass. It only means that planning without praying is a presumption. In Proverbs 16:3 says: "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." It continues to say in Proverbs 27:1: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." So, you should not count on things before they are suppose to happen, nor should you expect all of your hopes to be fulfilled. You also should not procrastinate. People tend to postpone things and say that they will do it "one of these days." Remember, we are forbidden to know the future. As a result, a "one of these days" (if postponed long enough) can turn into a "none of these days."
In the Holy Bible, the word: "destiny" is mentioned eight times (seven times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament). However, the word: "predestined" is mentioned only four times (all in the New Testament, twice in the Book of Romans alone). Romans 8:29-30 says: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." Ephesians 1:4-6 says: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." Ephesians 1:11-12 says: "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." Predestined comes from the Greek: "proorisménos" and the Latin: "praedestinatis." The prefix "Prae" (in English "pre") means "before" (in time, place, order, degree, or importance) and "destinatis," which means "designs," or in the Greek "proorízontai," meaning "intended." The word: "fate" is mentioned 16 times (all in the Old Testament). The word "fate" is derived from the Latin "fata," and the Greek "moíra." The Latin "fata" is also Italian and Portuguese for "destiny" and Spanish for "destination," "purpose," or "earmark." In Yiddish, the closest thing to "predestined" is "eyder bashert," meaning "before the inevitable," specifically that these "free will" choices are not ultimately predestined by God. The word: "choice" is the derived from the Latin "arbitrio," meaning "will," and the Greek "epilogí," meaning "option."
Still, you have to admit that human beings have SOME free will. God Himself didn't predestine Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. God Himself didn't predestine King David to covet another man's wife. God Himself didn't predestine any human beings to be murdered as a cause of death, let alone death itself. God Himself did not predestine the world to be full of sickness, famines, global warming, and overpopulation. All of this (and a lot more) is the culpability of man, but we're too afraid to face up to that. And to face up to that, we would have to admit that we do have some influence of the causality in our lives. We would have to admit that we are (or, at least, can be) the agency or efficacy that connects a process (a cause) with another process or state (an effect), where the first is understood to be partly responsible for the second, and the second is dependent on the first. In layman's terms, we have to accept that we all do things or make decisions (a cause) that impact the course of our lives and/or of others' lives (an effect) (either directly or indirectly) without the control of some unknown external force. This would not be denying the existence of God but accepting our own autonomy; our self-directing freedom of which every persons ought to be respected. I mean, we are not robots who were "programmed" to love God. If we were, how much would our love really mean to God? You feel more loved by a person who chose to love you or a robot who was "programmed" to love you? Yes, a robot is a machine (particularly programmable by a computer) capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Robots can be guided by an external control device or the control may be embedded within. And yes, within the past several decades, the design, construction, operation, and application of robotics have evolved astronomically. But do they really have a mind of their own? Well, one scientific team has said that it is possible that — what they call a "robot brain" — will exist by 2019. In theory, these "robot brains" will function as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and, in some unspecified way, provides them with a form of consciousness recognizable to humans. Other scientific teams predict robot intelligence breakthroughs by 2050. That would make me roughly 56 years of age. Still, unless you have great fear of singularitarianism, the truth will always remain that computers are only as smart as the person using it. However, we humans were not designed that way. God designed man with a free will, in which He will not force Himself on anyone. God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are the only two who love us unconditionally. They are not "programmed" do love us, They love us of Their own free will. And that's the way God wants us to love Him. And if whatever we do with our lives brings God glory, He will always give us a way to do it. If we go down the wrong path (as humans do), God will create another path to get back on track. You can think of God's will as a GPS system. Anytime we get off track, we always have God to do the "re-calculating."
Nevertheless, even though man is indeed a free moral agent and freely makes choices, we need to also realize that in his/her natural state, he/she acts in accordance with his/her fallen nature. Remember, each and everyone of us are born with Adam and Eve's sinful nature. Man willingly makes choices that flow from the heart, and sin is also always attributed to the desires of the heart (James 1:13-15). God never coerces man's will to follow Him, rather God gives the ability to believe through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that: "everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin," (John 8:34). The heart, until born again, is "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). God saw in man that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44). Man is most free in Heaven, where he is morally unable to sin. True, freedom isn't freedom to sin, but freedom from sin. Now, with this knowledge, do you really think that we know what is best for our future, if we had complete free will? I mean, what could be more powerful than knowing the future? What is the danger of human beings knowing their future? Well, right off hand, I would say it is that most (if not all) would have the temptation to attempt to change our future (for our own good, rather than for the Greater Good). Because, according to the Holy Bible, we are inherently deceitful. Even if we were to attempt to change the future with the best of intentions, the results can indirectly and fortuitously backfire drastically. As human beings, we change all the time, but the Lord Himself does not change (Malachi 3:6). And because He Himself does not change, neither do His plans for us. "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). So, the plans God has for us is not only to His benefit, but to our's as well. There is a strange sense of inevitability these days; the idea that the world is careening along a trajectory not under human control. This can create a sense of helplessness for man. Perhaps it comes from a peculiar vision of economics as a pure science (like astronomy) rather than an applied science (like engineering or medicine). In astronomy, we predict what will happen to a star or a planet. In engineering, we prescribe how to build a bridge. It’s a travesty of the philosophical underpinnings of modern free societies. But the earth sciences and biological sciences tell us with confidence that in the absence of wise collective decisions, matters are going to get progressively worse. We are beginning to see signs that these grim predictions are coming to fruition. Oddly, though, the earth sciences and biological sciences have a comparable bias. The world expects these sciences to make recommendations, or prescriptions, and yet the environmental sciences have a tradition of making mere observations and analyses or predictions. Since natural causation is not an issue of God vs. Science, it must be an issue of differing metaphysical philosophies. The nature of causation is indeed outside the bounds of the scientific method, for the scientific method, by definitions, cannot inquire about matters that cannot be tested and observed by at least one of the five senses. Science aside, life is presented as a great opportunity and we can not get lost in a non-existing future. If we let the future erase Scriptures, we are not living what it really matters, here and now, present. If you want to see the future, create it from now on: the future is yourself, it does not lie in the hands of time, but in yours. Abraham Lincoln once said: "The best way to predict your future is to create it." As the hands of time tick away on that eternal clock, we are heading more and more into the future. Whether we use or time productively or not, the future gets closer. You can change your own future, but it takes time. Maybe you don't see that your on the right path. But if you think of time as well, you may see a brilliant future. Give yourself time. This is YOUR future. It's YOU who must take action. Right now, ALL futures are possible. Don't let others manipulate you into taking foolish risks. Dreams come true, if you work hard enough. The future is YOURS, if you own it. If you want to accomplished something you haven't done before, than you have to do something you haven't done before. Get out of your "comfort zone." Forge your own path in order to make something completely new; something that makes people pay attention. Make something possible that everybody else thought impossible. And do it with flare. Every great thing that was ever done in counter-resistance in some form or another. If our future is undecided, our biggest concern shouldn't be our future but our present. It's in the present that we give meaning and direction to our lives; our future. And if it glorifies God, it will fulfill you abundantly. If it's in accordance with God's plan for your live, if will work out smoothly.
When it comes to whether the future is written or not depends on person who makes that sort of educated guess. It depends on Predestination vs. Emergentism. Are you a reductionist or a emergentist? If you are a reductionist like the most of the cynics then you have to believe in predestination. Reductionism refers to several related but distinct philosophical positions regarding the connections between phenomena, or theories, "reducing" one to another, usually considered "simpler" or more "basic" A person who analyzes and describes a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents. So, if someone believes that you can break complex theories into simple, smaller parts, you can call that person a reductionist. A reductionist might explain religion, for example, as simply an attempt to explain why the world exists. The reductionist world is ruled by mathematical relationships. Once the universe was set in motion, it can act in no other way. Some of them will try to invoke the Uncertainty Principle (the principle that the momentum and position of a particle cannot both be precisely determined at the same time) but in a reductionist world, even this would have to be ruled by some rule or mathematical principles as of yet undiscovered or proven.
Emergentist thinking leaves room for free will. Emergentism is the belief in emergence (i.e. a phenomenon whereby larger entities arise through interactions among smaller or simpler entities), particularly as it involves consciousness and the philosophy of mind (e.g. nomology), and as it contrasts (or not) with reductionism. A property of a system is said to be emergent if it is a new outcome of some other properties of the system and their interaction, while it is itself unexpected and different from them. If free will exists, then the future can only exist as a thought experiment and not as any kind of reality. Although likelihoods and things already set in motion would be discernible. Choice and consciousness cannot be included in the reductionist model as of yet. Science is still trying to understand it.
Also, there are people who believe that they can predict an upcoming future and that prediction came true. However, the prediction didn't come true because it was an absolute truth that the prediction was going to happen. What occurred was what most psychologist refer to as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is when a person unknowing causes a prediction to come true due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to come true. In other words, any positive or negative expectation about circumstances (i.e. events or people) that may affect a person's behavior toward them in a manner that causes those expectations to be fulfilled. Have you ever woke one morning and you just knew is was going to be a bad day. Sure enough, there's not enough hot water for your shower. You're hair won't cooperate while trying to fix it. You spill your coffee on yourself and have to change your clothes. You stub your toe before you have the chance to put your shoes on. Traffic is more congested than usual. People at work seem to be in a bad mood. All day long, bad things just seem to happen. You could chalk it up as coincidence, but you didn't actually predict the future. Oh sure, it was a prophecy, but it was a SELF-FULFILLING Prophecy. You can think of a Self-Fulling Prophecy as a circular pattern. (1.) Our actions toward others impact their beliefs about us. (2.) This dictates their actions toward us. (3.) This would reinforce our beliefs about ourselves. (4). This, in turn, reinforces our actions towards others, which brings us back to the beginning of the cycle (i.e. #1). It's hard to say how this relates or correlations with Predestination vs. Emergentism. However, you didn't predestine your bad day and you did not choose it of your own free will. You didn't predict it, but you may have obliquely caused it.
So, what the bottom line here? If the future is not written, why does it sometimes seem like it is? Well, think of it this way... You see, life is a road. And not just ONE road, but one of MANY roads. As we travel down life's road, we are constantly coming to forks in the road. And as much as one might regret that he/she cannot take both roads, he/she has to make a decision as to which road to take. Once he/she takes one road, it will lead to another fork and he/she will have to neglect another possible path choice. Hence, because of all the future road choices he/she knows he/she will encounter, he/she thinks he/she is unlikely to ever come back and discover what this other road is like. During life's journey the will always be a "road not taken." And that path is a road you will never see. So, say for example, an 18-year-old decides to go to college, instead of taking a job (e.g. going into the family business). The "road not taken" will be "taking a job." This person will never know how his/her life would have turned out if he/she would have taken a job at age 18, because as we know, once you make a decision and choose a path within that fork in the road, you can never go revisit that fork in the road and take the other path to see where the other road would have taken you. That decision one decision you make sounds so sempiternal, doesn't it? Sounds like each decision you make is "written in stone," right? So, you see, even if the future is an unwritten one, it doesn't seem like it because we can't go back and "undo" what we did in life. At least, not by going backward in time. God gives us choices in life, and it's up to us to take the right path that will give Him glory. We may not always know why the choices were given to us until later "down the road," but it is up to us to make the best decision we can at the time it is given to us. Even is the future HAS BEEN written, Søren Aabye Kierkegaard once said: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." We can only understand what happens in life after we've already lived it, which is why it can only be understood backwards. In other words, it's the wisdom to say that you must live without the benefit of hindsight. It must be lived forward, because you can neither dwell on the past, nor stop time from carrying you forward.
What it all boils down to is this: the "future" is not some distant, singular event but just every moment preceding this one. In the next minute, I could be doing anything from sitting here and typing to watching television to going to bed or whatever. The future is dependent on so many variables, including free will and the potentials of actions from others. Only God knows the future and what is at the end of every path that we take in life. I am not God, nor am I to know the future consequences and repercussions of my decisions in life. I cannot predict the future actions, only the most plausible possibilities. We can assume or extrapolate but not predict.
"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'"― Isaiah 46:10
THE MATRIX:
The Oracle: Do you see her die?
Neo: No.
The Oracle: You have the sight now, Neo. You are looking at the world without time.
Neo: Then why can't I see what happens to her?
The Oracle: We can never see past the choices we don't understand.
Neo: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?
The Oracle: No, you've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.
"The future is not written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." ― The Terminator Series
BACK TO THE FUTURE III:
Jennifer Parker: Dr. Brown, I brought this note back from the future and - now it's erased.
Doc: Of course it's erased!
Jennifer Parker: But what does that mean?
Doc: It means your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one."
"The future is not written. It lies in the choices you make. Our future is ours to decide. Always." ― Matt Myklusch, (Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation)
"No, my friend, your future is not yet written or conditioned. It will be you who will decide what situations you may surrender to and which ones you may face; it will be you who will ultimately make up what you want to be. You determine your future within the limits and possibilities of your environment. You have the freedom to decide, so make use of it. To live is to take responsibility for deciding, and in the exercise of that responsibility lies freedom." -- “Seven Powers”
Kyle Reese: "There was a nuclear war.... There were survivors. Here, there. Nobody even knew who started it. It was the machines, Sarah. Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence. Then it saw all people as a threat, not just the ones on the other side. Decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." ― The Terminator
