Why not? I don't believe in ka but I believe in God.Originally Posted by Brainslinger
Here's the situation though. You've read the Dark Tower series. Then you find a freestanding door. In that situation, wouldn't ka exists? Actually thinking about it, I guess not necessarily as it's possible someone with great power who has been spying on your life might have created the door to mess with you.
Roland would have understood.
Brainslinger,
The fact that you can be that honest with yourself impresses me... at least that's what came across in your post. You're clearly awesome.
I'm 30, married to a wonderful woman, and have a well paying career. But I'm also completely disenchanted with the whole planet and the state of everything in general. I'm also an arrogant prick and have a tendency to think I am somehow better than most other people, which is done as a defense mechanism to combat the disenchantment and sense of disconnection. Maybe, like Brainslinger, I'm not taking what I want out of life proactively enough.
That written, I'd never walk through the door without my wife, but anyone else I could leave behind easily... and definitely would.
only if i could use instant transmission like Goku.
This is, basically, what I wanted to say, and what perfectly sums up my three-year-long argument against ka you might remember from .net.Why not? I don't believe in ka but I believe in God.Here's the situation though. You've read the Dark Tower series. Then you find a freestanding door. In that situation, wouldn't ka exists? Actually thinking about it, I guess not necessarily as it's possible someone with great power who has been spying on your life might have created the door to mess with you.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's a good point.Why not? I don't believe in ka but I believe in God.
I just think that if Ka exists it would be just another word for God's will though. In fact, I don't think Ka could exist without God since ka suggests order by it's very nature. (I.e. to be destined suggests you've been pointed, right, which suggests someone is doing the pointing?) I'm not saying I believe in ka myself though. It's interesting though considering the implications of what finding a free-standing portal to another World would imply for who/what else is out there though. Especially if it were only Dark Tower readers who saw it.
I do remember. I love ka arguments.This is, basically, what I wanted to say, and what perfectly sums up my three-year-long argument against ka you might remember from .net.Why not? I don't believe in ka but I believe in God.Here's the situation though. You've read the Dark Tower series. Then you find a freestanding door. In that situation, wouldn't ka exists? Actually thinking about it, I guess not necessarily as it's possible someone with great power who has been spying on your life might have created the door to mess with you.
Okay, let's go a little bit off topic.That's a good point.Why not? I don't believe in ka but I believe in God.
I just think that if Ka exists it would be just another word for God's will though. In fact, I don't think Ka could exist without God since ka suggests order by it's very nature. (I.e. to be destined suggests you've been pointed, right, which suggests someone is doing the pointing?) I'm not saying I believe in ka myself though. It's interesting though considering the implications of what finding a free-standing portal to another World would imply for who/what else is out there though. Especially if it were only Dark Tower readers who saw it.
God's will. Ka. For me these two things are very far from each other.
Ka forces things. It's said you cannot avoid it. It works and it doesn't matter what you want.
God's will... I don't say it doesn't exist. But for me... it's like... a soft whisper in your ear (or in your heart). Yes, like that.
Ka is like a path you must step on. Must must must. God's will is like a whisper in your ear.. you may notice it you may not. You may follow it you may not.
If I found a door in the middle of my room tonight I wouldn't be sure God wants me to go. I would be given a choice. No more no less.
Roland would have understood.
-- 1 Corinthians 10:12-13...Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
if a door were to appear before me some day, after scientific testing to make sure it was real ( trying to walk through it when closed, with my eyes shut) i'd be through it in a second...after returning home for my gunna first though.
That makes a lot of sense. I guess what I would say is that if (and I mean if) ka existed it would be God's will. But I'd accept God's will wouldn't necessarily by ka. (That looks like a contradiction. What I basically mean is that I think God would be required to create ka, but whether he would choose to is another thing.) I.e. as you say he rarely forces a person to do his will, and ka does seem to do that in the books.
Good point. I agree. I was really just throwing out the idea of the existence of ka and the door as something to think about rather than something definite. (Heh, I mentioned another possibility myself.) Some of my posts turn into a bit of a stream of consciousness as new thought and arguments will occur as I think of them.If I found a door in the middle of my room tonight I wouldn't be sure God wants me to go. I would be given a choice. No more no less.
As for whether or not I believe in ka, I honestly don't know. I think there are some things that might happen no matter what I choose, some things God has set in stone, if you like (at least in the future of the world, if not my own personal destiny), but personal choices can change a lot. In the world(s) of the books though, I'd say ka definitely exists.
I think if there is a god all things are set in stone and that doesn't mean that you don't have freewill or whatever you wish to call it; just that whatever god there is knows and has known all along the choices you will make and the circumstances involved in and resulting from those choices. I think god or not, there is no ka...no destiny...only possibilities.
back to topic? I mean, if we start discussing free will here, the thread will have to be renamed, and it is a good thread.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, you are right Jean but I feel ka and free will belong to this question very much, But there is the point so let's go back to the root of the topic.
Roland would have understood.
ka and free will belong to any question, my love...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hm, I could argue with that but that would be off-topic, wouldn't it?ka and free will belong to any question, my love...
Roland would have understood.
I would open the door and want to see Blaine so I could riddle with him until my untimely, high-speed death.
(staples this post to the chicken.)
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
No one answered my question: do you have to step through the door the moment you see it or does it follow you like it does Roland? That'd give me a lot of time to think about my options!
no question .......run through that bitch....this life sucks ...i wish i had a cause to work for
I'm nonviolent with those who are nonviolent with me. But when you drop that violence on me, then you've made me go INSANE, and I'm not responsible for what I do
Malcolm X
If we follow the same rules as the Dark Tower books then I don't think the door would follow you this side. I think it only follows you the other side once you've already stepped through it, as long as it's left open. Which is still a factor of course, as you could always jump back if you don't like what you find.
However, the question of the thread is "If you found a door would you step through?", the subtext being you don't know what will be the other side, including whether or not the door will remain with you.* (That's how I see it, anyway.) You have to take that chance in the first place.
*Well, ok, you should see the landscape through the door once you have opened it, but thats only one direction and anything could be hiding on the other side, in the Mid-world** equivalent of where you're standing!
**Assuming it is Mid-World. It could be anywhere!
Seems to imply that we can choose a scene for ourselves. Like, is there anything in the story that you would want so much to change that you'd be willing to risk yourself?
I mean, if you believe, having read DT, that every single thing worked out as well as possible, then, by adding yourself into it, how could you find any cause to work for? IMO, S. King already did a pretty good job of playing God there. If we're to decide what should be changed, that's a hard decision. It's no wonder that we turned to more fundamental questions about making decisions in general. Letti is right; this totally begs the question of ka.
Whoops. A while since I read that, I forgot the second sentence there. Mind you, both scenarios are interesting food for thought.
Sure. And I certainly didn't mean to stop the thread. I was kind of hoping that Mitchel would re-appear and clarify.
Alright, how 'bout this...DT, Vol. VII
I have to agree. Why else would the door show itself if not to be a gateway for the one chosent to go through it? If it were me, I'd definitely go through
Yes, I would walk through without a minute of hesitation. I am so adventurous that I could burst.
I wouldn't go through
but for an odd reason. I wear contacts and do not have glasses. The chances that i would come upon the door wearing glasses rather than contacts are near zero. I can't go into Roland's world and end up not being able to see anything. I'd want to be a gunslinger if I went to his world and my eyesight would be a major setback, not allowing me to be a gunslinger. If I had perfect eyesight, I would walk right through without a second thought. I know his world is difficult and tough, but it is an adventure. On the one hand, I could sit at a desk and write software forever. On the other, I could be a gunslinger, fighting my way to the dark tower with Roland Deschain. It's a no brainer for me. If my eyes worked, I'd go.
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