“Everything happens for a reason,” “it’s meant to be,” “it is what it is.” These cliches express an increasingly popular form of Stoic fatalism. The underlying idea is that “Reality” just is a certain way, determined by God or physics. This superficially tough realism comforts us by absolving us of responsibility: whatever happens was bound to happen. But this makes it dangerous, argues Tracy Llanera. It leads to resigned inaction in the face of geopolitical strife, injustice, and our personal lives. Instead, we must recognize that there is no higher being responsible for us: we must take responsibility for each other and the world we live in. 

“Everything happens for a reason” is a popular salve for life’s nasty surprises. Many cling to it for existential comfort, or, better yet, the promise of a good ending.

Your house catches fire? Your dog’s stomach twists, and he dies mid-surgery at the age of five? A plane combusts mid-air while flying over the Pacific Ocean? Someone hacks into your bank account and withdraws your life savings? A new virus wipes out 7 million people in the twenty-first century? Two friends are diagnosed with cancer in less than two months? Your beloved wife of twenty years files for divorce? Trump is President of the United States of America? Again?

You know how it goes: everything happens for a reason.

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When life takes a savage turn, people are desperate for an explanation. And when the cause of misfortune boils down to bad luck, horrid behavior, or things simply running their course, some people want a fuller answer. They hanker for more justificatory flesh to grip, a deeper meaning or greater purpose behind the ordeal. They want reassurance that something better will come along, making the pain worth whatever valuable lesson it yields in the future.

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The idea that every little thing is set in stone is a morally misguided philosophy.

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