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Aristotle's Platitude


 

Everything happens for a reason.

- Aristotle


Everything happens for a reason,

just not the reason you think.

Unless you think like me.

- Me

 

These days, people tend to use the phrase "everything happens for a reason" as some sort of catch-all to explain away something that was traumatic, or at the very least, something that downright sucked.


If there was a Guinness World Record for overused platitudes, this phrase would be in the top 10.


It was one of my least favorite phrases; a pointless grasp for some semblance of control. Like if I can't control something bad that happens, there must be some higher force that has a grander plan and is pulling all the strings.


Frankly, I find it cheapens reality and insults whichever higher power one believes in.

It doesn't solve any problems, and worse, it presents a distorted view of reality. Somehow it's supposed to make one feel better about a situation by making one feel important enough to be part of a grander plan. At the same time, it completely strips away free will ... one of the defining characteristic of being human.


Here's the thing... I have nothing but love, respect, and awe for Aristotle, but this one "inspiring insight" has become the ultimate crutch of those who don't know what to say.


Where Aristotle went astray, in my opinion, is when he ascribed the quality of "purpose" to its meaning. In other words, everything has a purpose. Maybe that's true, but a purpose is actually quite different than a reason. "Reason" assumes cause and effect. "Purpose" assumes intelligent design and takes any sense of responsibility and accountability off one's shoulders. When others cause something bad, we want them to be held accountable. Yet when we do something wrong, we tend to do whatever it takes to avoid accountability. Cause and effect is nature. Purpose is all in how we define the outcome.

 

Lately, a new look at life and the world around me has given me renewed appreciation for the phrase.


Why?


Physics. That's why.


I believe the truth of our existence is rooted in both science and spirituality... not one or the other, but in acceptance that both exist simultaneously.


The very concept of existence causes me to believe that something greater does exist spiritually.

Our innate ability to continuously screw up our world and our societies makes me a true believer in free will.


And physics is what truly helped me start to make sense of the universe.


I've said before, and I'll say again (though I'm certainly not the first to say it):

Everything is energy, and energy is everything.

 

So why physics?


Here are my top 3 reasons (a.k.a., laws/theories of physics) that have given me have renewed respect for Aristotle's platitude.


Reason 1 - The Law of Conservation of Energy

Accepted into the scientific community in the mid-1800s, the Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created, nor destroyed. It simply becomes something else.


Reason 2 - Newton's Laws of Motion

1) An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by another force.

2) The force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration.

3) For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.


Reason 3 - Einstein's Theories of Special and General Relativity

As part of Einstein's theories of relativity, he describes a concept called "causality." Essentially, this concept codifies that a cause must always precede the effect according to inertial (a.k.a. stationary) observers. The fact that the observers are stationary injects the concept of time into the definition. And when you inject the concept of time into anything, traditional physics falls to shit, and on goes the fruitless struggle of creating a unified theory of everything. So let's leave time out of it, because time doesn't exist... but that's for another blog.

 

And so this brings me right back to everything happens for a reason; not for a purpose, but for a reason.


Cause and effect.


Simplifying "everything happens for a reason" down to "cause and effect" allows one to respect physics (both classical and quantum), maintain a sense of free will, and accept that there are things beyond anyone's control. Things may not have been done to us for some cruel purpose or intent, or to prepare us for some greater purpose, but simply because of the principle of cause and effect.


It is so freeing to think about things this simply. I used to subscribe to the motto "shit happens, but why does it always happen to me." This toxic thought implies there's some higher being that has it out for me, leaves no room for empathy for people suffering around the world, puts me at the center of the universe, and strips my power and agency to make change. But guess what? I'm not at the center of the universe, and neither is anyone else, yet we all participate in cause and effect.


It means I still have free will, and the ability to choose to make positive change because it's right, and not because I'm hoping good deeds and $50 for the bouncer at the door will get me into heaven.


It means that my individuality means something to me even if it doesn't mean anything to 99.9999999% of the world. It means that I have to be careful in how I treat people, and how I allow others to treat me. It means I have to be vigilant because so many more people are becoming bad actors.


It means I'm both at peace with, and yet powerless to the whim of cause and effect.


It means I need to continue to examine the causes of events that happen in my life to better understand if it is truly purpose or intent so that I can more effectively and productively process these events.


And for those things that still can't be explained or controlled, why pin it all on God? That's a special kind of self-centeredness and cruelty to the very benevolent force to which we cede our control.

 

All this to say that I hope that some day we will, as a global society, become more accountable for those things for which we are the actual cause; have more grace and empathy for people suffering negative effects of our actions or the actions of others; and feel empowered to create positive change.


In my depression, I looked at my life as always being the cumulative effect of things that happened TO me. In my healing, I found my agency and now try harder to be a cause, and in doing so, give myself purpose.


"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the strength to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference."


- The Serenity Prayer, Author Unknown


Amen.

 

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