Determinism

The universe as a chain of cause and effect

The universe is a giant clockwork mechanism, and we are but cogs in its machinery.

Every event is necessitated by preceding events and the laws of nature.

Free will is an illusion - we are passengers, not pilots, of our own lives.

The past contains the complete explanation of the present.

Given the initial conditions of the universe and the laws of physics, everything that happens is inevitable.

Choice is just the interface through which causality expresses itself.

We are not free to choose our thoughts - they choose us, determined by prior causes.

The feeling of freedom is just our ignorance of the causes that determine our actions.

Every decision you make was predetermined by your genetics, environment, and prior experiences.

The future is already written - we're just reading the book page by page.

Randomness is merely a measure of our ignorance of the underlying causes.

We are biological machines following the programming of nature and nurture.

The illusion of choice is the most sophisticated feature of human consciousness.

Every thought, every action, every emotion is the necessary result of prior causes.

Destiny is just physics unfolding according to mathematical laws.

We don't create our path - we discover the path that was always there.

The universe doesn't play dice - it follows rules we're still discovering.

Freedom is recognizing the necessity of what must be.