Fate

There is a 1974 documentary about the Vietnam war, called Hearts and Minds. This is a must see movie, specially in today's circumstances under which the so called "war on terror" is being waged. At one point during the movie, it is revealed (at least it was a revelation to me) that Ho Chi Ming actually wrote quite a few letters to the then US President Harry Truman asking for the US' support in Vietnam's struggle to gain independence from the colonial French rule. It is quite ironic that while Ho Chi Ming quoted the US Declaration of Independence in referencing his own people's rights, the United States decided to stick with its friend in Europe, the colonial France.

What would have happened had the US decided to support the freedom seeking Vietnam? Is that a fair question to ask? I mean, after all, that decision by the US had enormous implications to the US and the whole world. Are we just engaging in mindless fantasy by asking such hypothetical questions? Actually, various Multi-Universe (Multiverse) theories implicate that all possible outcomes of any given event have happened. That means, there's another universe where this whole Vietnam war never happened. Imagine what it all means for the past 50+ years of the US history. Imagine what the implications of not having had that disastrous war on the subsequent US foreign policy! ... And, the implications of those decisions!!

Why stop there ... take all the important events in the history ... the various events that led to the WWI, the WWII, etc. But, why stop at thinking about just wars? What about the major discoveries, inventions, creations, writings, paintings .... There's a universe somewhere with any number of these things missing. That means, there's at least one universe where all the outcomes have come out the way I would have wanted. That would be slightly different from yet another universe where all the outcomes have come out the way you would have wanted. And, so on.

Now, let's bring that same thought process to present day. Are the outcomes in this universe similarly decided ... even for the future? Is that what they mean when they say, we can't change our fate? So, that means, no matter how hard we try, we can't change the quantum physics? If we wanted a different outcome for any given event, that would happen, just not in this universe?

{sigh}