Who is a fatalist and why does a person believe in fate?

Updated July 24, 2022 914 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Test. You are in a difficult life situation (happens to everyone). In your opinion, is this the will (finger) of fate, or are you (or someone else) to blame for what happened?

Will you look for signs that will tell you where to move next, or will you make a decision to get out of a difficult situation on your own?

Simply put: are you a fatalist or a realist?

What is fatalism

The term "fatalism" is of Latin origin. Translated from Latin, “fatum” means “fate, fate.” The comprehensive belief in the predetermination of life by fate is called “fatalism.” This type of worldview excludes any accidents in a person’s life.

The opposite approach to fatalism is voluntarism. This approach is based on the strong belief that with the help of one’s own will a person can change his life. In other words, if a person wants to be satisfied with life, he must make an effort and change what he does not like in his own life.

In philosophy, fatalism is a way of life in which a person does not take active actions aimed at changing his destiny. He regards any event in life as the result of the influence of fate (fate).

In history, fatalism began to be talked about simultaneously with the emergence of the first religions. This type of thinking existed throughout the globe, since people could not find logical reasons for many social phenomena. They believed that certain events in the world occur at the will of higher powers, which man is unable to resist. Modern world religions also have a fatalistic basis.

Pronounced religiosity sometimes becomes the reason that a person has a fatalistic attitude towards the events that occur in his life

The Christian religion is characterized by positive fatalism. This religion is based on the idea that man was created in the image and likeness of God. This means that every person is unique and unique, everyone knows how to do something special that is inaccessible to another person.

Who is a fatalist?

A fatalist is a person who believes in the predestination of significant events and the inevitability of fate. Usually this is a religious or very superstitious person, relying on a higher power in everything. He believes that he can have only a small influence on what happens to him, and all important events in his life are destined by fate. Fatalists believe in predictions, prophecies and omens, and tend to see the influence of fate (fate) in everything.

Belief in fate appeared at the dawn of human civilization, when the first religions arose. People liked to believe in divine predestination. And this belief has not weakened for thousands of years, despite the rapid development of society, enlightenment and scientific and technological progress. Even today, most people continue to share this worldview, believing that their lives are predetermined and that they themselves can influence only minor everyday events.

The most famous literary character associated with the word “fatalist” is, of course, Grigory Pechorin, a key character in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” by Mikhail Lermontov. He is arrogant, cynical and cold-blooded, often demonstrating courage and calmly risking his life because he believes that everyone will die only when they are destined to.

From a psychological point of view, fatalism can have a beneficial effect on the psyche, mitigating the stress of experienced troubles. It is very difficult for a person to admit mistakes that led to significant losses. But if he believes that the trouble that happened was prepared by fate, it is much easier for him to come to terms with it.

The origin and history of fatalism

Ancient Rome is considered the birthplace of fatalism. Polytheistic religion and the thoughtfulness of the state structure of Ancient Rome created favorable conditions for the emergence and development of a total faith in fate among the population. In ancient Roman mythology, there was even such a creature as Fatum. This is what was considered Fate. The Romans were convinced that the servants of Fatum (fat) create people's destinies.

In ancient Greece, the deities who, according to myths, wrote the life script for each person were called Moirai. In Greek mythology, you can find many references to the Moirai embroidering the design of fate with golden threads.

Moira at work

In other regions of the globe, there was also a belief that the scenario of life cannot be changed, because the Gods decide everything for people, but fatalism as a philosophical movement took shape precisely in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

In modern religious teachings, the ancient fatalistic trend has taken the form of people’s conviction in the inevitability of retribution for all sins.

Over the course of many centuries, society has been actively developing, new achievements in science and technology have appeared, Aristotle’s metaphysics has become outdated, and those who can be called fatalists can still be found today.

In the modern world, believers tend to perceive their own lives fatalistically. They believe that due to the sinful actions of people one day the End of the World will come, but at the same time they are skeptical about predictions and modern fortune-telling.

Fatalist: several shades of worldview

Not all fatalists believe in fate the same way. The beliefs of these people can be divided according to the following criteria:

• Everyday fatalism.
  Subjects subject to it blame those around them and hostile higher powers for ordinary troubles and stress. Stress in them causes aggression directed outward. They often believe in damage and the evil eye;
  Theological fatalism.
  According to followers of this trend, everything in the world is divine. Everyone fulfills the program that God laid in him. And life on Earth has a grand plan in which people are just cogs;
  Logical fatalism.
  Differs from the two above in its belief in a cause-and-effect relationship. The role of God here is played by the reasons that served as the impetus for the chain of events that occurred.

  Logical fatalism has its origins in Ancient Greece. This is exactly the philosophy Democritus adhered to. Many modern people are logical fatalists, also rejecting the possible spontaneity of the events that happen to them.

Types of fatalism

Fatalistic views of people are usually divided into the following types:

1. Religious fatalism. This worldview is based on man’s firm belief that all blessings on earth are created by God.

Everything on earth was created by God, man is also a creation of the Almighty, therefore not a single person has such a resource that would allow him to change the will of God

1. Rationalistic fatalism. This type of fatalistic worldview is based on man's mystical faith in the forces of nature. This brand of fatalism has its roots in metaphysics.
2. Logical fatalism. This type of fatalism is characteristic of people who try to comprehend certain life phenomena from the point of view of cause-and-effect patterns.
3. Pessimistic fatalism. It is expressed in a person’s desire to justify his own failures by an unfavorable combination of circumstances, to look for someone to blame for certain troubles. As a rule, this type of fatalism reveals itself under stressful conditions.
4. Everyday fatalism. This type of fatality is characterized by the fact that in everyday situations the individual tries to make his friends and colleagues to blame for the fact that the common cause did not end in success. If he fails to do this, he will say that divine intervention is to blame.

Types of fatalistic people

Fatalists can manifest the characteristics of their worldview in different ways.

How to recognize a fatalist

A fatalistic personality is characterized by the following characteristics:

• low self-esteem;
• tendency to underestimate one’s own capabilities and competence;
• humility;
• humility;
• lack of self-confidence;
• a person with fatalistic beliefs makes the same type of mistakes because reflection is not characteristic of him;
• weak moral principles of the individual;
• refusal to accept responsibility for one's own actions;
• superstitiousness;
• pessimistic attitude;
• tendency to believe in predictions and the results of fortune telling;
• the belief that there are no accidents or coincidences.

A fatalist is interested in knowing what awaits him in the future, so such a person listens to horoscopes, believes in predictions and magic

Lifestyle and beliefs of a fatalist

To define the lifestyle and beliefs of a fatalist, we first turn to the classification of this phenomenon. Fatalism can be:

1. Bytovym. Adherents of this worldview blame any troubles only on higher powers that have taken up arms against them for something. Often people who have been exposed to a lot of trouble in a short period of time and are in a state of stress sincerely believe this. It happens that this goes away over time, but some people adhere to this point of view for the rest of their lives.
2. Theological. Supporters of this worldview are confident that any events occurring on Earth are predetermined. In their opinion, in heaven there is something like a “book of destinies”, where the life of every person and the planet itself is written, and it is no longer possible to change anything.
3. Logical. Fatalists of this type include philosophers who try to find a cause-and-effect relationship in all events. In other words, these people are looking for, if not entirely scientific, then at least not too mystical justification for the opinion that everything is predetermined in advance.

Taking into account the above, we can conclude that a fatalist of any type is characterized by the role of a passive observer of life, not trying, as in Andrei Makarevich’s song, to take action so that “the world bends under us.” They are submissive to their fate and simply go with the flow, and one of the most unpleasant qualities of such individuals is that they do not want to take responsibility for their own actions, citing a fatal coincidence of circumstances.

Reasons for the formation of fatalistic beliefs in humans

The formation of fatalism as a basic personality trait is influenced by factors such as:

• parenting style;
• overprotection;
• raising a child in a religious environment;
• unfavorable socio-psychological climate in the team where a person spends a significant part of his life (educational or production team);
• low self-esteem of the individual;
• a series of negative events in life;
• long stay in unfavorable conditions, stress;
• conformism;
• human belief in miracles.

The reason for the rash actions of a fatalist is his conviction that what is planned by fate must happen

This type of worldview has no genetic roots. This means that fatalism will not be passed on from parents to children. However, parents convey a certain attitude towards life, and children unconsciously assimilate them and apply them in their independent adult life.

Why do people become fatalists?

If you correctly understand who a fatalist is, then it is already obvious to you that fatalism is not in the genes. This worldview is formed in a person in the process of upbringing, growing up and gaining certain life experiences. Most often, the reasons for the formation of fatalism are factors such as:

1. Beliefs ingrained in childhood

. Any child is inclined to take on faith what adults say. Often the beliefs laid down by parents, educators or teachers persist into adulthood. Therefore, children of superstitious or religious parents often become fatalists when they grow up.

2. Overprotection from parents

. Such parenting tactics almost always lead to the child growing up irresponsible. It is difficult for him to accept that responsibility for his own life lies with him. It’s better to attribute your mistakes to fate (read more about overprotection in this article).

3. Low self-esteem

. A person who does not believe in his own strengths tends to rely on fate and blame circumstances for his own failures.

4. Negative events

. Severe stress can break a person and make him weak-willed. And if a person does not believe in himself, he also relies entirely on fate.

5. Events that a person perceives as a “miracle”

. As mentioned above, people sometimes face serious troubles. But all troubles end one day, and at such a moment a person may form the conviction that some higher powers are protecting him.

Examples of fatalistic thinking

Examples of fatalist thinking include phrases such as:

• Everything in the world is vanity of vanities!
• There cannot be seven deaths, but no one can avoid one death!
• What can you do, such is fate!
• It's all in God's hands!
• It is impossible to deceive fate!
• There will be day - and there will be food!
• Come what may!
• Don't be sad about what you don't have, maybe it will appear tomorrow!
• What has happened has already passed, but no one knows what will happen!
• What is destined to happen cannot be avoided!

Yes
0%

No

100%

Don't know

0%

Voted: 1

Fatalism in history: examples

Despite their submission to fate, fatalists can achieve certain heights in life. A striking example of this are the stories of such outstanding personalities:

1. Gaius Julius Caesar. The ancient Roman commander and politician was warned of the danger that threatened him. He was informed more than once that a conspiracy was brewing around him. And on the day of Caesar's death, his wife had a dream in which he was killed by several men. The woman told her husband about this and persuaded him to take action, but the commander firmly believed in his lucky star. On the same day he was killed by attackers, among whom was his pupil Brutus.
2. Gustav ⅠⅠⅠ. This Swedish king, 2 weeks before the tragic events, received an anonymous letter, where he was warned about the impending danger, and even named the date of the assassination attempt. But the crown bearer ignored this information, and on the designated day, March 29, 1792, he went to a masked ball held at the Royal Opera House. They shot him there. And although a bullet fired from a pistol by guard captain Jacob Ankarström hit Gustav in the leg, 13 days later he died of blood poisoning.

1. Theodore Van Gogh. This popular filmmaker made a short film, Submission, which condemned the treatment of women in Islam. As one might expect, his work aroused discontent among certain sections of the population, and the director began to receive threats. The police convinced Theodore that he needed protection, but he was too frivolous about what was happening. As a result, on November 2, 2004, he was attacked on his way to work. Moroccan Mohammed Bouyeri first shot the director 8 times, and then stabbed him in the chest and slit his throat.

As sad as it is to admit, most fatalists are themselves to blame for the fact that their lives ended so tragically. Such a sad ending is, first of all, explained not by evil fate, but by the carelessness and frivolity of a person. Therefore, you should not believe so much in fate, but try to take responsibility for your life. In confirmation, we can cite the popular wisdom: “Trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself.”

Pros and cons of fatalism

A person’s position in life, in which he blindly believes in fate, has both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and disadvantages

a person’s metaphysical conviction that the script of his life is written and “approved” by higher powers increases the individual’s resistance to stress;

a fatalist does not tend to worry for a long time because of failure;

fatalists and fatalists have a balanced character;

the conviction that everything is God's will makes a person brave;

fatalists are capable of selfless acts;

Fatalists do not have depression.

the superstition of fatalists is often pathological;

fatalists are characterized by passivity;

fatalists often demonstrate an inattentive, callous attitude towards people;

some people justify their antisocial behavior with fatalistic attitudes;

Fatalistic individuals are characterized by pessimism and the habit of focusing on the bad;

the fatalist's thinking style often makes him a victim of fraudulent schemes;

it is difficult for a fatalist to admit his guilt and his mistakes;

fatalists often take unnecessary risks;

such people quickly give up on something when faced with minor difficulties (they see in this signs of fate warning them not to continue the business they have begun);

they lack persistence to achieve career success;

A person with a fatalistic outlook on life does not have his own goals and ambitions;

Is it good or bad to be a fatalist?

Some people believe that believing in fate is extremely bad. But the worldview also has positive aspects that can make life much easier for a fatalist.

Advantages

The main advantage of fatalism is that a person can attribute all failures to fate or evil fate. Their psyche is not overloaded with unnecessary experiences. A person does not bite himself for wrong behavior, does not think that he could have acted differently. He takes circumstances for granted.

A person accepts positive events with gratitude. He is unaware of the experiences and impostor syndrome, when a person believes that all good things happen to him undeservedly.

Flaws

The fatalistic worldview also has a number of significant disadvantages:

He quickly gives up. Fatalists do not believe that often success does not depend on luck, but on how persistent and persistent a person was in achieving the goal. If a fatalist doesn’t succeed the first time, he believes that “it’s not fate.”

They devalue the importance of planning and preliminary preparation. Often people fail because they do not plan their actions properly and do not prepare options for retreat in case of failure.

They attach too much importance to superstitions. A fatalist may abandon his plan if he had a bad dream, a cat crossed the road, or the stars are in a disadvantageous position.

They often become victims of scammers. This is due to the fact that fatalists rarely analyze current events. For example, a fatalist was predicted by a horoscope that an unexpected gift awaits him. During the day, a scammer contacts him and informs him that the person has become the lucky winner of the drawing, and several tens of thousands of rubles will be sent to his card. Without a second thought, the fatalist gives the fraudster payment information and loses the savings from the card.

Do you have a fatalistic worldview? Do you think there are more pros or cons to it?

What is more in fatalism?

Pros

31.25%

Cons

68.75%

Voted: 16

How to deal with a fatalist

When communicating with fatalists, many people consider their position in life ridiculous. In order for interaction with a person who is convinced that he is unable to change what is destined by fate to be constructive, you need to:

1. Perceive your interaction partner for who he is.

It is difficult for girls to understand the position of a fatalist guy, but they do not impose their views on him

1. While maintaining goodwill in communication, one can make arguments that prove that with the help of one’s own will and efforts, a person makes life the way he wants. Of course, such conversations will be unpleasant for a fatalist, because his life position has been formed over many years. In addition, it is convenient for him: it allows him to be deliberately lazy. However, he can listen to the opinion of his interlocutor and think about his arguments.
2. The personal example of a persistent, hardworking and purposeful friend can encourage a fatalist to take active action. If this happens, the friend’s task will be to support the creative activity of yesterday’s darling of fate, to help him overcome doubts and obstacles.
3. If a person’s belief in fate borders on obsession and pessimism, it will not be possible to change his life attitudes without the help of a qualified psychologist. In this case, it is recommended to unobtrusively convince your friend to sign up for a consultation with a psychologist and help him find a good specialist.
4. If no attempts to reduce a friend or colleague’s belief in evil fate help, it is better to give him the opportunity to live as he sees fit. It is impossible to forcefully help another. Instead of trying to improve the life of someone who doesn't need it, it's better to focus on your own life.

Asya Rakhovich

Psychologist with more than 8 years of experience. Consultant on interpersonal and marital relationships, self-discovery.

Ask a Question

Collection of examples

To better understand what a fatalist is, it is worth turning to examples from life and the world of art.

Examples from history

Fatalism had a fatal influence on the fate of the prince of Ancient Rus' Oleg from the Rurik family. Many people know the legend that the sorcerer predicted his death, which would come because of his beloved horse. Prince Oleg could be called a fatalist, since he listened to the magician and asked him to take his horse away and take care of him. The prince was given another horse. And many years later, when the first horse had long since died, Oleg wanted to look at its bones. It was from the horse’s skull that a snake crawled out and bit the brave prince to death.

The great commander Gaius Julius Caesar denied fatalism, which was his undoing. One day his wife had a prophetic dream about the death of her husband. Caesar did not listen to his wife, because he did not know that an assassination attempt was being prepared on him. Without security, he went to the Senate, and on the way there he was killed.

An example of fatalism can be found in the history of Sweden, it happened with King Henry. He received an anonymous letter saying that an attempt was being made on Henry's life at the upcoming ball. The king decided not to do anything and resigned himself to fate. At the ball he was lightly wounded in the leg, but Heinrich still died two weeks later from blood poisoning.

Fatalism saved the life of Baron Ungern many times. This man preferred to believe fortune tellers and predictions. Often he went into battle literally with his bare hands, he was betrayed by his own comrades, they opened fire on the baron many times, but he miraculously survived. One of the court fortune tellers predicted that Ungern had 130 days left to live. All these days were full of adventures and mortal battles, but luck always smiled on Baron Ungern. But still, after a fateful 130 days, the baron was captured and executed.

Examples from literature

Examples of fatalists in literature can be found in Homer's Iliad. The author points out that even the supreme god Zeus is unable to change the course of fate.

The most striking example of fatalism is Lermontov’s work “Hero of Our Time,” which even has a section with the same name “Fatalist.”

The features of a future fatalist can be seen in the protagonist of Sanaev’s work “Bury me behind the baseboard.” The boy Sasha believes that everything good in his life depends on higher powers, but as it turns out later, on the mood of his oppressive grandmother.

Perhaps the most moving book about fatality and chance is John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

What works about fatalists do you know? Be sure to tell us about what you read in the comments.

Examples from everyday life

There have, perhaps, been cases of fatalism in the life of every person. For example, a cat crossed a man’s path, he considered this a bad omen and postponed his train trip to his relatives. As it turned out, later, this same train was involved in an accident.

Often in modern society you can meet fatalistic girls. They refuse to communicate with truly kind and worthy guys just because their zodiac signs do not match. This also happens among guys.

Almost every day, fatalists are served by employees of banks and mobile phone stores. Fatalists spend a long time and meticulously choosing their “lucky” phone number or bank card.

How to fight fatalism

As can be seen from the table presented above, fatalism as a type of worldview has serious disadvantages. To correct ideological attitudes, a person needs:

1. Go for a walk every day and admire nature.
2. Live in the present day. To do this, a person needs to let go of the past, stop regretting what he did. You need to greet every new day with a smile and firm confidence that this day will be successful, because a person has important and interesting things planned for this day.
3. Learn to take responsibility for your life and the events in it.
4. Understand that each person writes their own life script. How the story turns out depends on the author. To make sure of this, just start being active.
5. Stop trying to find someone to blame for failures. It doesn't do any good. Instead, you need to learn to learn from mistakes and apply them in the future.
6. With the help of a psychologist, work through negative emotions and correct destructive value orientations.

A complete rejection of fatalistic views will not bring happiness to a person. Therefore, one must strive to ensure that this worldview is expressed moderately. Parents also need to make some effort to instill reasonable fatality in their child.

Is a modern fatalist a person confident in his abilities?

To some extent this statement is true.
After all, a fatalist believes that he can survive everything that fate has in store for him. But this person will not just survive, try to change reality to suit himself. What do modern fatalists look like? The image of such a person is a little mystical and dreary. Especially if fate does not spoil him with gifts. A true fatalist, whose brief description lies in the word “submission,” in the modern world is known as an outsider running from life. And if earlier it was fashionable to have such a worldview, now it is considered an unviable utopia.

To summarize, we can say that a fatalist is a person who does not know how to accept challenges from the world around him and is not able to solve problems.

No one who made the right and wise choice would ever attribute it to fate; the only real fatalist is the one for whom everything is very bad. Fatalism brings no comfort. A believer in fate is deprived of the opportunity to shout, “Screw you, I've had enough,” because he knows that he was born a coward and it is only a matter of time before he gives in, surprising no one, not even himself. Hunter Thompson. Rum Diary

I’m interested in your opinion, do you consider fatalism a negative phenomenon in the modern world?

Yabrova Ksenia · Jan 29, 2018

The impact of fatal self-confidence on the future

According to psychologists, self-confidence is an important social quality that helps a person achieve heights in life. There is a special type of fatalists who are convinced that the outcome of any case will certainly be positive. Such people have well-developed self-confidence. To develop this personal trait, you need:

1. Engage in constant self-development. You need not only to improve your personal qualities, but also to learn new things and try yourself in new activities. Any life situation should be considered as a chance to prove yourself, to know your own boundaries and resources. This position gives a person the opportunity to discover his weaknesses and outline the path of self-development.
2. A person must set himself a high enough standard in any endeavor so that he has to put in effort and patience in the process of achieving the goal. It strengthens the spirit. If you succeed in achieving your goal, your self-confidence will increase.
3. If difficulties arise, you need to learn to ask for help from loved ones. There's no shame in this. The life principle of a self-confident fatalist is the phrase: “Today they helped me, and tomorrow I will help.”
4. Self-confidence is formed in the process of a person defending his own views and interests. In order to justify his position and life beliefs, a person needs to develop communication skills.
5. An important component of self-confidence is a person’s ability to firmly refuse the dubious proposals of his comrades.
6. To become confident, a person needs to believe that it is possible.

The influence of fatalism on culture

It is believed that the traditional Russian mentality views life with optimistic fatalism and passivity - even the grammar of the Russian language has adopted passive tendencies - we use "I like" or "I need" instead of active constructions, such as in English "I like" or “I need”, where there is an emphasis on “I” as an agent of action. A person with such a mentality tends to perceive life as something that happens to him, and not as something in which he is directly involved. And this way of thinking is radically different from how Westerners see their place in the world.

Westerners tend to think that you need to create yourself and your life. Max Weber in his book “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”

describes this phenomenon as having roots in the Protestant Reformation, as various Protestant religions espouse doctrines that encourage an active rather than a passive or fatalistic way of thinking.

Russian culture has an ancient history, which was largely shaped by Russian Orthodoxy. Even after decades of communist rule, the influence of Orthodoxy is still present. So, for a typical Russian person to convert to a Western religion would mean more than just a rejection of Russian Orthodox traditions; rather, it would entail the adoption of a new way of thinking in general and cause many internal conflicts and contradictions.

However, even Nietzsche, whether weakened by physical illness or crushed by an intense attack of emotional pain, recommended the use of a remedy that he called “Russian fatalism.” One who uses such a medicine stops trying to heal himself and simply lies down, accepts his illness and pain, and suppresses any physical or emotional reaction. At the same time, it saves precious energy and speeds up recovery. This is how Nietzsche wrote about this in his autobiography “Ecce Homo. How to become yourself":

“If there is anything at all to be argued against the state of illness, against the state of weakness, it is that the real instinct of healing weakens in it, and this is the instinct of defense and attack in man. You can't get rid of anything, you can't cope with anything, you can't push away anything - everything offends. People and things come annoyingly close, experiences strike too deeply, memories appear as a festering wound. The painful state is itself a kind of ressentiment. The patient has only one great healing remedy against it - I call it Russian fatalism, that resigned fatalism with which a Russian soldier, when a military campaign is too burdensome for him, finally lies down in the snow. Do not accept anything anymore, do not allow anything into yourself, do not take it into yourself - do not react at all anymore... The deep meaning of this fatalism, which is not always only the courage to die, but also the preservation of life under the most life-threatening circumstances, expresses a weakening of metabolism, its slowing down, a kind of will to hibernate. A few more steps further in this logic - and you come to a fakir, sleeping for weeks in a coffin... Since you would be exhausted too quickly, if you reacted at all, you no longer react at all - this is logic. But nothing burns out faster than from the affects of ressentiment. Annoyance, painful sensitivity to insults, powerlessness in revenge, desire, thirst for revenge, poisoning in every sense - all this for the exhausted is undoubtedly the most dangerous type of reaction ... "

How to raise a fatalist

To instill in a child reasonable fatalism, which would help him to endure negative life events, you need to:

1. Tell him myths and legends about the creation of the world.
2. Cultivate humility and obedience in him. If possible, you can enroll your child in Sunday school.

Church education helps to form obedience and humility in children

1. To stimulate the child’s desire to analyze life events, look for their causes, and establish logical connections between phenomena.
2. Cultivate tolerance in a child. This personality trait will make it easier for him to socialize.
3. Convince your child that envy is a bad feeling. A person should not envy the successes and benefits of others, he must learn to appreciate what he has.
4. Form in your child the habit of taking responsibility for his words and actions. The belief that the hour of reckoning for immoral behavior will certainly come will help the child to comply with the moral principles of society.

Examples of fatalistic thinking

A fatalistic attitude is determined by two factors:

1. The person is convinced that events are beyond his control.

2. The person is sure that he cannot change the course of events.

There have always been fatalists. People simply believed in fate and trusted it at crucial moments. Here are some examples of famous sayings that illustrate a fatalistic attitude towards life:

• There will be no seven deaths;
• You can't escape fate;
• You can't fool fate;
• Apparently this is fate;
• You can't go against fate.

Any person, no matter how fatalistic he may be, will not expose himself to obvious danger and cross the road at a red light or jump from a roof. A fatalistic worldview most often manifests itself not in some everyday situations, but in relation to life in general.

I will give more examples of fatalistic thinking. Leo Tolstoy, in his novel War and Peace, discussed the topic of historical fatalism. The writer denied any role of the individual in the historical process, emphasizing that everything is carried out by some “spontaneous forces of history.” Stoic fatalism explains the helpless position of man before the overwhelming power of social forces - wars, empires and the like.

Fatalistic thinking can help in difficult life situations when there is no other way to accept what happened. For example, a person’s home burned down or was seriously damaged by a flood, a person lost something valuable and dear to his life against his will, and so on.

Another special “feature” of fatalism is known. Sometimes a person becomes attuned to the possibility that bad events may happen to him in the future. And when instead good events happen in life, the person is sincerely happy. Such fatalism represents a certain way of survival and an attempt to avoid sudden shocks and disappointments.

I will pay special attention to the concept of “fatalistic woman”. This is often called “fatal” women who change the usual lifestyle of a man in love. Men literally lose their heads from them.

When meeting such a “fatal” woman, a man often makes drastic actions in life, married men leave the family, and unmarried men stop noticing other women. Such “fatalists” are popularly called witches, homewreckers, and similar words. A man often seems to cease to control his life, events and actions. The outcome of a relationship with a “fatal” woman may be different, but changes in the personal scenario are almost inevitable.

An example of formed fatalistic thinking from Russian history. In past centuries, the “fatal beauty” Aurora Shernval lived in St. Petersburg. Following the death of her fiancé a few days before the wedding, a series of similar events followed in the woman’s life.

The next admirer (by the way, a friend of A.S. Pushkin) proposed his hand to a beautiful young woman and died of a heart attack on the eve of the wedding. It seemed that for the third time fate smiled on the beauty, and she married a cavalry colonel. But evil fate pursued the woman: her happiness was short-lived, her husband died tragically during the Turkish campaign.

This time the St. Petersburg beauty submitted to fate and did not think about marriage until the end of her days. But that's not the end of the story. After the death of the “fatal” woman, the story of her life and the deadly fate pursuing the men next to her continued to excite St. Petersburg society. And when one poet decided to write a poem about the life of Aurora Shernval, it turned out to be quite “natural” that he fell ill and died while working on his work.

Such an example is not rare. There are many cases similar to this - femme fatales, bad apartments, bad places and the like. “Fate, evil fate and the inevitability of what is happening” will appear everywhere. Everywhere, the basis is fatalism - the belief that events are determined by fate.

At the same time, cases of fatalism with positive overtones are well known.

For example, during wars, some fatalistic soldiers were convinced of their own “protection” from an enemy bullet. Many of them undertook dangerous actions and performed great feats. They said about them: “The bullet doesn’t kill” or “I was born in a shirt.” What is this fatalism? Probably yes. The confidence of these soldiers that the bullet would not overtake them on the battlefield actually “helped” the bullet to fly past. This is another example of how a fatalistic attitude towards life forms conviction, in this case, helps to survive.

The author's fateful mistake

Jack London is an eternal author, that is, he will be read as long as the English language and people capable of translating from it exist, but he also made a mistake that cost his hero dearly. The astute reader will understand what is at stake. Jack London believed: the most important thing in life is love, and when a person is deprived of love, then he has no reason to live. Martin Eden became a victim of precisely this attitude. And this quite fits the definition of “fatal mistake” - this is what predetermined the fate of the hero, played a cruel joke on him. Jack London's system-forming belief about love devalued Martin Eden's entire struggle for the right to be himself.

"Fatum" is fate

Indeed, from the Latin “fatum” is fate. Therefore, you can easily establish that fatal is:

1. Destined by fate. Something mysterious, fatally determining a person’s life.
2. Something that suggests tragedy, perhaps death.

But don’t be afraid, most often we are not talking about death, but rather about predestination. For example, you can hear from commentators at team sports matches: “This mistake by the goalkeeper turned out to be fatal for the team.” After all, the audience understands: the goalkeeper did not cause a fatal illness for all his teammates, and they did not die after the match. In this case, the goalkeeper's mistake is fatal, because it predetermined the result of the match and turned out to be fateful. “Fatal” is something that cannot have a happy ending.