Concept:

Fate is a major theme in simulation theory. Free will and determinism are debated in the real world, but the concepts are further examined in regards to simulated reality. It is impossible for us to know whether or not we truly have free will, or whether we are operating under a divine plan from which there is no deviation. I want to explore different aspects of free will and determinism in order to fully flesh out the concept of fate within the UniverSim.

My initial idea is to have either end of the extreme represented as individual Conjures: one that is able to manipulate fate to its own wishes, and one that has no choice but to conform to something greater.

I was inspired to look into fate by my research into the Norns of Norse mythos, creatures that spin a golden thread and manipulate the fate of all living beings.

Research (taken from my semester 1 website):

• Determinism suggests that in any given situation, it is absolutely impossible that an individual could have made any other decision. There are two types of determinism, external and internal.
  • External determinism suggests that the cause of our behaviours is adopted from outside sources, such as our parents, media or environment. For example, children can adopt aggressive tendencies that their parents show them (Bandura, 1961).
  • Internal determinism suggests that our genetics are the root for our behaviours. This idea reduces a lot of our behaviours from free decisions to mere genetic and hormonal processes within our bodies, in turn implying that we are merely programmed to make specific decisions. (https://www.simplypsychology.org/freewill-determinism.html)
  • The primary argument in favour of determinism is the idea that the future is absolute. You can only make one decision per scenario and there is absolutely no way to go back and change it. We as individuals will only make one decision in any given situation, thus it must be 'written' to happen before we were even born. The parameters for every single thing occurring at any point in time were established at the very inception of the universe, thus no decision could be truly 'free'.
    • One argument against this concept is that the future cannot possibly be written until it happens. A situation can only be absolutely determined once an outcome has been determined. Since there is no way to foresee the future, one cannot assume the future has already been determined. Of course, some incredibly accurate predictions can be made, but it is nigh impossible to accurately predict what any given individual will do in any given situation.
• Einstein once stated that 'God doesn't play dice with the universe', implying that the laws of the universe cannot be probabilistic - they have to be deterministic. This quote arose from the contradiction between deterministic laws of nature and the probabilistic laws of quantum physics.
• Deterministic laws of nature state that one situation will always yield one, absolute outcome, always. Quantum mechanics probabilistic laws state that one situation may yield a multitude of outcomes, and does not explain why one outcome may have happened over the other. Einstein believed that there must be a level below that of the quantum, one that explains why one outcome happened over the other. Heisenburg and other physicists disagreed however, believing that you could not go any deeper than the quantum level.

Translatable Qualities:

From the research, I’m currently thinking of three distinct directions: a Conjure capable of total free will by manipulating fate, a Conjure that is subject to the will of a higher being (a puppet), and a Conjure who must operate according to a plan (a program perhaps?).

Going purely by fate as a concept, I think both free will and determinism both connote the defensive archetype more than the others, but they both have supportive and offensive qualities. Free will is absolutely more evocative of defence, since I can easily see a Conjure being able to manipulate fate outside the realms of determinism in order to ‘foresee’ incoming attacks in order to deflect or avoid them. This concept could also be true of determinism aswell, since, if everything is going accord to a plan, one could potentially read said plan ahead of time, somehow. If one is acting according to the will of a higher being, said higher being could also be capable of manipulating fate.

• Fate manipulation
  • Avoiding, deflecting attacks to save allies
  • Attacking in the future
  • Preventing an opponent from moving?
• Absolute fate
  • Preventing a Conjure attacking in a certain way?
    • Forcing them to attack someone else?
  • Attacks and abilities that can’t be prevented in any way?

Conjure Ideas:

For the free will and determinism based Conjures, I’m feeling particularly inspired by the concept of light vs dark, or holy vs unholy. I love the idea of the ‘puppet’ concept, whereby a Conjure must act in accordance to the will of a higher being. This Conjure could adopt an occult-inspired form to elicit imagery of the devil or Satan perhaps? The free will-inspired Conjure could take inspiration from angels of some kind to connote a higher level of existence, thus implying free will?

Free Will:

• Shades of purple to signify magic and time travel perhaps?
• Inspired by an angelic being, like a seraph?
  • Or other abstract entity of a ‘higher’ evolution
• Incorporate ‘timelines’ into the design somehow?