A young man sees a palm reader in order to find what his future holds. The dark and mysterious turbaned figure looks cross-eyed at the young man's hand and croaks, "You will die by water!" Well, that is enough for this young man (his great grandmother was a palm reader herself). Though he lives on the western coast of the United States, he moves to a place in Utah, away from any rivers, streams, or lakes. Though a talented swimmer, he stays away from any accessible pools. He even refuses taking baths or showers, thinking of possible water related accidents that may spell his death. His life develops into a paranoid evasion of all possible contact with water. But, he still must consume water to live. So one day at his home, slouched over a bowl of chicken-noodle soup, he is struck on the head by a cookie jar, knocked off the refrigerator by his cat (a black cat, naturally). Rendered unconscious, his head falls directly into his soup, and he drowns!

This young man's death was inevitable, a product of fate. Although he was lucky enough to find the cause of his eventual demise, he could not prevent it. Many would read this

Determinism and fatalism part, most obviously, in their relation to "free will." Determinism is compatible with the concept, and fatalism is known as its true opposite. Most of us believe absolutely in free will. In some ways it appears straightforward: wanting to raise our hands, we "will" our arms to rise. Voila! However, most people have not sought to define precisely what free will is or to understand the complexities of these two, one syllable, words. "Free will is the freedom or ability to choose" (WordNet 1.6). In context, the word "freedom" does not mean "freedom from causality;" it means "freedom from compulsion or restraint". Therefore, if "will" exists, it can be applied through causal methods. Causality produces constraints, not "unfreedom." For example, gravity limits the conditions in which a human being cannot fly, but it does not prevent a bird from flying. Since determinism's foundation is based on cause and effect, it is compatible with the concept of "free will."

In the fatalistic perspective, "free will" simply does not exist. The most famous example of this is the "idle argument" of antiquity: "If it is fated for you to recover from

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 790
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)