this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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me_irl
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People who think they're in control of their life are just like maggie driving the car in the simpsons intro. It only looks like control because of a narrow viewpoint. A wider understanding shows this can't possibly be true. We no more control our lives than a mountain controls how erosion shapes it.
Your life must be a cruel joke if you think this is in any way true
We live in a deterministic universe and control is just not real. It's not something that could possibly exist.
I do find that funny in a lot of ways, and the universe is cruel is many ways. But mostly I find the illusion of control a silly joke, or sometimes a kind joke.
I think you and u/deur are talking about 2 different levels of control, similar to the difference between weather and climate.
I control when I get up in the morning, I control what job I sell out or stay at, etc., etc. But I have no control over the wildfire/tornado/hurricane/flood/landslide that takes out my house. I don't have control over the mass shooter/suicide bomber/terrorist attack that takes me out. I don't have control over a government insistent on destroying foreign relations and weakening the spending power of my dollar.
Individuals have control on a micro scale. The larger the scale gets, the less control one has. The only real control we have is how we react to the world around us.