Reflections Part 2: Electric Boogaloo 

09/7/2019 

It’s weird isn’t it? It’s weird that, while of the same species, we all have different 

interests; different personalities. We all walk different paths of life, yet somehow, paths 

cross. I am of course referring to the convergence of thinkers that form my group; 

Group 23. We met for the first time this week, and no two of us are alike. A chemist, a 

cosplayer, a screenwriter, and a biologist coming together to come up with a 

presentation to teach my fellow peers what existentialism is. This difference in 

personalities will either produce a lecture to be remembered throughout history, or will 

cause a conflict amongst ideas that will ultimately lead to our demise. I have faith in 

this group, however, that no matter how many obstacles we encounter, we will prevail! 

While I cannot say with certainty how well my group will perform, as I am not a 

fortune teller, the topic of discussion this week does dabble with knowledge of the future. 
What if a soothsayer were to approach you? Let's say this man of mystery were to tell you 

that 95% of the time, whatever future he sees for you, would be true. Would you listen to 

what this man had to tell you, or would you tell that crazy man to “hit the road jack?” 

When the class was asked to answer “yes or no,” the votes were almost exactly 50/50. 

Personally, I would have loved to hear what the human Delorean would have had to say 

about my future. Who's to say that the only thing he will predict will be my death? That is 

only one of millions of things he could tell me. Even if he tells me I am going to die 

tomorrow, I would much rather know that and live my last moments to the fullest than 

die without making my peace. I mean, for all I know, he could tell me that I will trip on 

curbs a total of 13 times next May. There is nothing he could tell me that I wouldn’t 

want to know. There is no harm in knowing aspects of your future, even if you can’t do 

anything to fix it. Let’s just say that for some reason I absolutely hate the future he 

predicts for me, I would reassure myself that I fall within the 5% of predictions he got 

wrong.  
 It boggled me that about 50% percent of the class disagreed with my “yes” claim 

and opted for not knowing their future. They argued that maybe your death might come 

earlier if you knew when it was coming versus being ignorant and not knowing at all. 

Which brings about the question if it is fate or destiny at that point. I mean, would the 

prediction only be set into motion by having this knowledge? Maybe, no matter what you 

do, hearing it or not, your fate will be sealed. You can’t stop the future from happening, 

unless of course you opt for the destiny route, in which case no matter what the 

soothsayer says, you can change it. No one can predict the future, so we obviously can’t 

prove this hypothesis. Maybe​ we as humans aren’t supposed to see into future​, let alone, 

comprehend what will happen with this knowledge.