h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A friend of mine was travelling through India ,he was given a lift in a car,during the journey he fell sick and the driver dropped him off at a medical center back in the village they had left.He was there for several days until he recovered.When he was given a lift out of the village he passed the same car he had been travelling in it was down a ravine.He was told that the driver of the car had been killed in the accident.He felt shocked and wondered if the car would have crashed if he had been in it,then on reflection he wondered if he was responsible for the crash as if he had not been sick the driver would not have taken a detour.
So was it bad luck that the car crashed or was it his destiny that it would have happened no matter what route he had taken?
Whether or not we choose to turn right or left if our fate is predetermined we always end up in the same place destiny.It made me wonder..

I know, incidents like this make one crazy. I'd probably feel the same way as your friend does. Of course it's of no avail to blame yourself in such a situation, but I think it's only natural that one feels guilty after such a tragedy (and probably at the same time relieved that one wasn't involved in the accident).
I personally do not believe in destiniy. I think you always have the opportunity to decide between A, B, C, D... and each alternative will let you end up in a different place/situation.

Hope your friend will recover soon from his nightmare-journey!

Yes he has recovered and is in Spain now(probably lapping up the sunshine)I know we all have choices to make but sometimes I think wonder especially as in my friends position.It is like those people who missed their flights and then found out the plane crashed,the choice wasn't theirs to make,the flight they were already on was delayed because of air traffic so they missed the next flight.Was it fate.

My brother came up with some "scientifically proven" (of course! ) theories the other day which claim that there is nothing like free will but only fate. It even kind of added up, and now I'm wondering if it's a good idea to go and lie down in my bed and do nothing ever again, and when somebody asks me if I'm crazy I could say, "Sorry, that's my fate - ask my brother!".

beware of brothers talking senseI try to not listen to mine very often!they only confuse you in the end.If fate is predestined we don't need to study we would pass our exams if we were meant to and think of all the extra gardening we could do....or laying in bed

During the war my grandfather was posted to a ship to travel to Dunkirk. He met an old friend before boarding who was on a different ship; because they were catching up on old news another soldier offered to swap places with my grandfather so they got on each others ships. I'm sure you can guess what happened... the ship my grandfather should have been on was sunk with no survivors. To this day he believes it was fate!

Oh that is a great example of fate existing to me.Your Grandfather was destined to survive the war that cannot just have been coincidence either that or he had a guardian
Thank you for sharing that with me so has it made you believe in fate

I am not so sure if I believe in a predestinded path but I do think you can make your own fate and things sometimes happen for a reason. I cannot entirely accept that I do not have any control over what path my life takes!!! But that is the control freak in me refusing to let go!!!!

I too can be a bit of a control freakbut not in a bad way I just find that I can organise myself much better than depending on other people.I do agree you make your own choices in life but sometimes fate does lend a hand whether we like it or not.