The idea of Fate/predetermination

[The Grand Nudger]

Roger, platitude, often spoken as though novel or insightful - meant to convey a message or concept but often devoid of either.

It's not a platitude. It's like CD said. It's meant to say that you shouldn't worry about things beyond your control.

I'd say that those are the -only- things you should worry about. Why would I worry about things that are under my control, for example, I'll simply handle them. It's what I cannot control that remains the wildcard and potentially ruins whatever plan-however well concieved.

[sarcasticgeographer]

Thank you all for the thought provoking input. If everything is meant to happen, does that mean that anything is not meant to happen?

[The Grand Nudger]

Perhaps mixing "meaning" and "happening" is unwise. In a hard deterministic model, what is going to happen will happen, what has happened/is happening determines what is going to happen. Meaning is not necessary.

[Doubting Thomas]

I find it more comforting than the thought that there is some holy psychopath randomly slaughtering people whenever he gets pissed off about something. But, that's probably just me.

Well obviously when people in California approve of gay marriage, the sensible thing is to send tornadoes to Oklahoma.

[Minimalist]

Shit just happens.

[Faith No More]

I'd say that those are the -only- things you should worry about. Why would I worry about things that are under my control, for example, I'll simply handle them. It's what I cannot control that remains the wildcard and potentially ruins whatever plan-however well concieved.

But how does that worry change the situation? It can't. The point is that worrying about things beyond your control is wasted energy and causes unnecessary psychological turmoil.

[The Grand Nudger]

But how does that worry change the situation? It can't. The point is that worrying about things beyond your control is wasted energy and causes unnecessary psychological turmoil.

Who said the point of worry was to change a situation? If you can change something why worry? Again, these are the only things worth worrying about, in my estimation, but the last bit is the operative bit.

Basically, "Stop thinking about it".

-always good advice....lol......

Lemme give you a gardening example..

I don't worry about whether or not there's enough nitrogen in my soil to last me through the year. If there isn't, I'll just add more. I -do- worry about unseasonable weather patterns and -if i did not-....if i just stopped "wasting my energy" worrying about the weather (which I do not control) I would not be prepared (or have any impetus to even consider preparation) for such an event.

It's a platitude bud. Something we say when we can't explain the shitty things that others worry about. It's meaningless. If you just said "don't worry, because"- and left it at that, -or even nothing at all- it would be the same. Platitudes, however, are often incorporated or adopted by entire cultures. Seems most of us have heard that one (and some of us invest it with elaborate meaning). I think that it sticks because of repitition btw.."will happen, will happen, will be, will be". Say it out loud..it's fun.

[Faith No More]

Who said the point of worry was to change a situation? If you can change something why worry? Again, these are the only things worth worrying about, in my estimation, but the last bit is the operative bit.

Basically, "Stop thinking about it".

-always good advice....lol......

Lemme give you a gardening example..

I don't worry about whether or not there's enough nitrogen in my soil to last me through the year. If there isn't, I'll just add more. I -do- worry about unseasonable weather patterns and -if i did not-....if i just stopped "wasting my energy" worrying about the weather (which I do not control) I would not be prepared (or have any impetus to even consider preparation) for such an event.

It's a platitude bud. Something we say when we can't explain the shitty things that others worry about. It's meaningless. If you just said "don't worry, because"- and left it at that, -or even nothing at all- it would be the same. Platitudes, however, are often incorporated or adopted by entire cultures. Seems most of us have heard that one (and some of us invest it with elaborate meaning). I think that it sticks because of repitition btw.."will happen, will happen, will be, will be". Say it out loud..it's fun.

I think you're looking at it wrongly. When I talk about "not worrying" it does not mean don't concern yourself with the outcomes or think about the situation at all. It simply means don't let yourself become psychologically consumed over what the outcome is going to be. Prepare for the worst, but don't drive yourself nuts from fear that the worst will happen is the sentiment I am trying to convey.

[Jackalope]

if i just stopped "wasting my energy" worrying about the weather (which I do not control) I would not be prepared (or have any impetus to even consider preparation) for such an event.

That you are able to prepare for unseasonable weather, in my mind, puts it outside the scope of "things beyond our control".

Yes, you cannot control the weather. But you can mitigate it's effects.

That isn't the sort of thing I was referring to.

[The Grand Nudger]

I think you're looking at it wrongly. When I talk about "not worrying" it does not mean don't concern yourself with the outcomes or think about the situation at all. It simply means don't let yourself become psychologically consumed over what the outcome is going to be. Prepare for the worst, but don't drive yourself nuts from fear that the worst will happen is the sentiment I am trying to convey.

Well, whether or not I have it wrong or right (and I understand where you're coming from) doesn't change the status of the statement. Look at how elaborate your explanation of the statement has become..and how, might i ask you, would the statement stand -by itself- and convey that message? Something being a platitude does not hinge upon how well invested it is -to you- or -to me-.

For reference...

A platitude is a trite, meaningless, biased, or prosaic statement, often presented as if it were significant and original. The word derives from plat, the French word for "flat." Whether any given statement is considered to have meaning is highly subjective, so platitude is often—but not always—used as a pejorative term to describe seemingly profound statements that someone views as unoriginal or shallow. Examples of statements which could be considered platitudes could be "The power of friendship", "Go with the flow", "Everything happens for a reason", "It is what it is!", "This, too, shall pass", "We need to do what we can do", and "I know! Right?".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platitude

@ Cthulu. My prep is under my control, the weather remains out of my control. Without worrying or considering that which is beyond my control I will be left with very little in the way of guidance or metrics to act upon what -is- under my control. I would expect that a meaningful statement - which is to say..a statement that is definitely not a platitude- would be applicable to such a situation even if you hadn't considered situations like it. I could pick this particular one apart "will be, will be" on much more thorough grounds but I didn't imagine that I would have to in light of such an easy example.

Try this instead...how does one know that whatever one is worrying about is something that simply "will be"?
What sorts of things "will be"?
That "what will be will be" is a vacuous statement, empty repitition. If it will be, of course it will be (and why say it twice, other than our penchant for saying things twice), but whether or not it will be has what again to do with my worry (and an appropriate level thereof), for example?

Even from the standpoint of structure and ability to convey a message it's soup sandwich. Any thing it might be able to convey appears to be entirely an issue of what someone invests it with (and remains unspoken). When you say it to me are you certain I've invested it with the same thing that you have invested it with? How can any similarity be relied upon..or do we have to operate on the mere assumption that it means anything - and that further it means what you seem to think it means (whatever it is). It's textbook platitude, man - in all of the ways that "this ball is red" is not. I appreciate that it can mean something to someone - but I suspect that the words themselves do not convey that meaning (and if we didn't invest platitudes with meaning they wouldn't persist in any case..so it shouldn't surprise us if we -find- meaning in them, regardless of whether or not the meaning is there, in them, as opposed to in our own thoughts -about them-)