tl;dr? The last sentence sums it up.
One must wonder who initiates the change, who determines the outcome of the event and when the consequence of that event will be visible. I was watching That’s Amore on MTV, a show where a bunch of girls compete against each other to win an Italian. When one of the girls got eliminated she said that she wasn’t worried about losing the competition, because everything happens for a reason.
From a somewhat rational perspective:
What exactly happened? She did not get picked to compete in the next round. Who caused this? The Italian guy (it is a competition so the other girls are indirectly responsible). Any particular reason? Yes, the other girls convinced him that they are a better choice (so the Italian guy likes the other girls more than he likes her). What are the consequences? Unsure, but hopefully she’ll be able to get over this guy and move on with her life.
Causality can more or less be determined by asking some simple questions and giving reasonable answers. However, we can only speculate what will happen to this girls when she returns to her usual life; we can’t predict her future.
From an irrational perspective:
What exactly happened? She did not get picked to compete in the next round. Who caused this? Well, if this might have happened for a reason, we must wonder who caused this. Surely, we can assume that the one causing this, is also planning the outcome. In that case, it would be the Italian guy (and the other girls indirectly) who seemingly made the decision. If it is the Italian guy, then he must be the one planning the future of this girl or he is subconsciously influenced by an intelligent life form. Whether it is realistic to assume that such an intelligent life form actually exists is not important right now. Any particular reason? Seemingly, the Italian guy prefers the other girls over her. However, if the Italian guy (or the intelligent life form controlling his decision making) has other plans for this girl, then he may not actually prefer the other girls over her and the elimination is just a facade. What are the consequences? Again, no one can say with certainty. Even if we assume that the intelligent life form has other plans for her, we can’t really say what those plans are. So we don’t know where this turn of events will lead to or when these new events will occur. It may happen 10 years from now, it may have happened the minute she left the house (where the show was recorded). The point is that we just don’t and can’t know. Moreover, if she was only eliminated because the Italian guy was subconsciously influenced, then they might have actually ended up together if they weren’t separated by this, apparently, omniscient being. In other words, the life of the Italian guy (and the girl who would have been eliminated in her place) are also influenced by this decision. What is the reason for this? Once you start with this sort of reasoning, there is no end to it.
Again, we can say that the future of the girl is uncertain, even though she might believe that something good will come from this. There are actually people who prepare themselves for all kinds of contingencies, but let’s leave that aside for now.
Let it be obvious that Ockham’s Razor runs through this claim like a knife through butter. In other words, even when we look at this situation from an irrational perspective, we should be able to draw the same conclusion as when we look at it rationally. So there is no need to introduce a puppet master here.
Surely, it is a harmless thing to say. It seems harmless enough at the very least, but we must think about the direction we take when making such a claim. There is no way to establish when the chain of events started and when it will end. So, saying that everything happens for a reason is not necessarily stupid, it just depends on what you mean. The use of the alphabet may not be the best way to explain this, but for instance, the reason that A turns into B, is not so it can then become C. Rather, A turns into B and then into C because otherwise there wouldn’t be anything after B. Hopefully you get my point here; something has to happen after B hence C. But by the former, C must have existed before B. And if an intelligent life form was involved, then it doesn’t make sense as he could’ve just let C happen right after A; B would be pointless.
When she said “I’m fine, everything happens for a reason”, she must’ve meant some sort of super natural force. I am sure that she did not imply that she was fine, because this Italian guy has other plans for her (also she is not the first nor the last one to be eliminated so what about the others?). If that were true, the Italian was indeed responsible for the decision, for the most part. He probably didn’t know this girl before the show, so then B has to happen in order to get to C. A=everything prior to the show, B=the decision to not pick that certain girl and C=what he has in mind for the eliminated girl. In both cases, cause and consequence don’t quite add up and they can certainly not survive Ockham’s Razor.
To make a long story short, everything does not happens for a reason and if you think otherwise, you’re just talking white noise.
Muffley172
Very Little 