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Is life "fair"?

Obviously it's a metaphoric question. "Fairness" implies intelligent leadership in the universe. Most of us here assume that isn't the case, but we mostly still tend to see natural events as being fair and unfair. It seems unfair when a young child just starting out in life is killed in an accident or is struck with a fatal disease. It seems more fair when a known no-goodnik is struck by a similar fate. In our minds we know this is just a roll of the dice, but our human souls (don't get excited, that's a metaphor too) can't help but think otherwise.

I have always told myself that the universe looks more or less fair depending on the scale you observe it at. On the human scale it looks terribly random, but if you look at the much larger galactic scale it seems far more orderly and purposeful. If you look at the much smaller quantum scale it looks even more crazy than the human scale with events that make no intuitive sense being the norm.

Do you think life is fair or unfair, or do you think fairness has no meaning in this context?

SKDeitch 7 Dec 27
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32 comments

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8

All meaning fair or unfair is based on your life experiences. It depends on your self-esteem and self-worth how you perceive events. You can be a sad sack and say "Life isn't fair. Or if you have your shit together you can take things in stride. When I was diagnosed with life-threatening leukemia 5 years ago something happened to me. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I beat it. It's all your train of thought.

Way to go.

Good for you.

4

One of the established principles f our universe is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle or the principle of bounded chaos. In a situation of bounded chaos, one cannot expect "fairness" anywhere near 100% of the time.

Very true... 51% means life is fair.

3

The world is what we make of it. I became an attorney because I refuse to accept life isn’t fair—or at least that it has to be that way. That’s what Justice means to me. And as a prosecutor I’m in a unique position to make that happen.

Lilie Level 6 Dec 27, 2017

You made life fair... that's what it takes... determination. I did the same. You get what you give. Then you give a little and take a little.

3

I'm one of those guys that had to bust his ass to survive 50 years of having to work to be able to retire. Was life fare?...YES...
I started out in a service station going nowhere. Joined the military and chose a trade I needed on the outside. I gave 7 years. Came out a first class welder. There it is. You give a little you take a little. It was the domino effect after that.

3

there is no such thing as fair.

3

Life had been here for a long time before we came along with our ideas about fairness.

3

I suppose it's a matter of personal perspective. While your thoughts and/or opinions are not necessarily the truth, you can control in which way they look, negative or positive.

3

You get handled a hand and you play with it. You live to Survive the Next Challenge. I don't complaint of mine. I was taught a lot by someone did not knew how to read or write yet... She raised me Never to say "is not fair". She taught me to change the Odds if I didn't liked the Odds. Granted I never in my life expected to one day see a president as the one we have in USA but that will teach me a lesson of How Irrational Human Beings Could Be. Pardon Me if I decided to be a Tourist in the last Segment of My Life.

2

As a bedside nurse for over 15 years, I’ve seen young people die from cancer and other things. I’ve also seen 80 year people who lived their life with no regard for healthy habits act shocked that they had a disease that would eventually end their life, as if they were supposed to live forever. Both kinds of patients probably thought “Life’s not fair!” Obviously some diseases occur due to chance or genetics from which one can do nothing about, and some are more likely to occur based on lifestyle choices. My usual advice to people: Enjoy your life while you have it. Because you never know when it will end. Is life fair? Not in my opinion. You can stew about it, or you can enjoy the time you have. Your choice.

2

Fairness has no meaning. The inequalities and inequities abound as the gap between the haves and the have nots widens. The random acts of tragedy occur as they will. There is luck and hard work, but nothing insulates you from randomness taking place.

2

Nope. Life is random.

2

If you had a good life you will say it is fair ,if you had a miserable life you will say it is unfair. Nothing can be fair if you had nothing to do with being subjected to somthing , if you are not the willing subject . In this case no one asked to be born ,so in reality anything negative that happens to you is definitely unfair.

2

For those that think they are somehow entitled to a constantly happy existence, with all of their wishes granted - life may seem unfair.

I believe life, and what occurs along the way, is all random. And I have never thought life was fair to everyone. Nor does it need to be. We make some of our own destiny - and stumble upon other parts.

Then, it's up to us to decide how to handle what happens.

2

Of course it's not. Nothing is, it's all arbitrary. To believe in fairness is to believe in fate, karma and other whimsical nonsense.

1

Life is fair just like god created the world.

1

Nature is red of claw and tooth! We humans often have it easy so maybe we are able to make it a little bit fairer.

1

If life were fair,I would have been born rich,instead of so damn pretty!

1

I think.. Life isn't supposed to be fair. It is supposed to give you challenges to become a stronger person so that lessons may be learned, whether it is someone in your life who learns a lesson by something that happened to you, or you learn a lesson. I think getting over these obstacles make us smarter.

1

An interesting question even with it's metaphorical undertones. If I think about it I am on a little backwater planet spinning at approximately 1,000 MPH in in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The galaxies are flying apart at 270 miles per second in no discernible direction. We could ask where are we in the grand unknown "scheme" of things, I doubt that there is one....LOL

1

For me, every day above ground is a good one, even with my annoying health issues. So, fairness to me is subjective and nothing more than a human concept. The world will still spin after I'm gone, regardless of my ideas about "fairness".

1

Since “life”, or the collective forces beyond our control, has no mind or intention, fairness or unfairness is a layer we add, but to stay with the metaphor, life is not reliably fair all the time. It’s up to the individual to construct a worldview that isn’t caught off guard by that fact.

skado Level 9 Dec 27, 2017
1

Yes! According to the nature.

1

I think fairness has no meaning in this context. I think life simply "Is". I think you plugged into a very deep and twisted rabbit hole also...! To ascribe it purpose would be a big stretch because it may indicate the existence of a "purposer". Is that me? You? Some outside force? I believe that life is just a way to speed up the sum total of entropy in this universe. There, all the pressure is off.

0

In a world where people get away with abuse, rape and murder, while 2 year old children get cancer, I'd say there is no "fair" in the grand scheme of things. The universe doesn't care.

0

I think its a persons perception and it's also a matter of individual comparison. A person has to take control of thier destiny to get what they want. It may seem sucky in the beginning but that doesn't mean it's not fare. Any time I think life is not fair I look around me and realize that I have the essentials to live. My determination to make the difference secured my Destiny.
"Fairness" does not yield analytical, falsifiable comparisons; it simply gives us a sense of emotional balance and makes us feel good. So, sure, life is fair if you define it to be that way.

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