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Fatalism: Que Sera Sera?

Jacob-B May 17, 2020 at 20:37 3725 views 4 comments
‘Que Sera Sera’, I find myself inadvertently humming Doris Day’s song. The tune is melodiously catchy and unlike many Hollywood musical scores, its lyrics are meaningful. ‘Que Sera Sera: What will be will be. The future is for us to see’.
Is there a whiff of fatalism about it? I think so. The message is one of resignation and stoicism. ‘Don't worry about the future, there is nothing you can do about it, accept things as they come’ i.

How does such an attitude relate to Covid-19 situation?
A true fatalist would argue that we should go with the flow and accept the pandemic as part of God’s Will which for him is expressed in their interpretation of religious scripts. By contrast, the average determinist is likely to support all measures taken to counteract the Covid-19 pandemic whilst at the same time view such actions as well as the pandemic itself, as predetermined by a chain of causes and effects stretching back all the way and originating to the Big Bang. For the determinist, all the ingenuity and analytical thinking of thousands of individuals involved in the search for a vaccine does not contain any element of Free Will. Would it be wrong to describe such a view as being indistinguishable from Fatalism?

Comments (4)

Mww May 17, 2020 at 20:52 #413669
Lyrics need edit.
prothero May 17, 2020 at 23:04 #413689
Reply to Mww "whatever will be will be, the future's not our's to see"
Not a fan of fatalism or determinism.
TheMadFool May 18, 2020 at 05:13 #413735
Am I in control over everything that matters to me? If no, que sera sera. If yes, are others in control over everything that matters to them? If I am then they too. Que sera sera.
Frank Apisa May 18, 2020 at 13:48 #413806
Reply to Jacob-B

Whatever!