Predestination paradoxes in popular culture Examples

Krishna

In the story of Krishna in the epic Mahabharata, king Kamsa, afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of his sister Devaki's son, had her cast into prison where he planned to kill all of her children at birth. After her first six children had been killed, Devaki gave birth to Krishna. As his life was in danger, he was smuggled out to be raised by his foster parents Yasoda and Nanda in the Gokul village. As a young man, Krishna returned to his kingdom to overthrow his uncle, and Kamsa was eventually killed by his nephew Krishna. It was Kamsa's attempts to prevent the prophecy that led to it coming true. A similar but less complex story is found in the Greek myth of Zeus overthrowing Cronus.
Oedipus

A dual example of a predestination paradox is depicted in the classic Ancient Greek play 'Oedipus'. Laius hears a prophecy that his son will kill him and marry his wife. Fearing the prophecy, Laius pierces newborn Oedipus' feet and leaves him out to die, but a herdsman finds him and takes him away from Thebes. Oedipus, not knowing he was adopted, leaves home in fear of the same prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Laius, meanwhile, ventures out to find a solution to the Sphinx's riddle. As prophesied, Oedipus crossed paths with a wealthy man leading to a fight in which Oedipus slays him. Unbeknownst to Oedipus the man is Laius. Oedipus then defeats the Sphinx by solving a mysterious riddle to become king. He marries the widow queen Jocasta not knowing she is his mother. A variation on the predestination paradoxes which involves information, rather than objects, traveling through time is similar to the self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, a man receives information about his own future, telling him that he will die from a heart attack. He resolves to get fit so as to avoid that fate, but in doing so overexerts himself, causing him to suffer the heart attack that kills him. In these examples, causality is turned on its head, as the flanking events are both causes and effects of each other, and this is where the paradox lies. One example of a predestination paradox that is not simultaneously an ontological paradox is the following. In 1850, Bob's horse was spooked by something, and almost took Bob over a cliff, had it not been for a strange man stopping the horse. This strange man was later honored by having a statue of him erected. Two hundred years later, Bob goes back in time to sight-see, and sees someone's horse about to go over a cliff. He rushes to his aid and saves his life. In most examples of the predestination paradox, the person travels back in time and ends up fulfilling their role in an event that has already occurred. In a self-fulfilling prophecy, the person

is fulfilling their role in an event that has yet to occur, and it is usually information that travels in time (for example, in the form of a prophecy) rather than a person. In either situation, the attempts to avert the course of past or future history both fail.
Joseph

The Biblical Joseph angered his eleven brothers by what they considered his arrogance, especially by a dream in which he saw eleven stars bowing down before him, which the brothers thought represented themselves. To get rid of him, the sold him into slavery and he was taken to Egypt - where he eventually rose high in Pharaoh's court and became the Viceroy. When there was famine in Canaan, the brothers came to Egypt and bowed down before the Viceroy/Joseph to ask for his help - thus, their angry reaction to his dream was what caused the dream to come true.

The Lucifer Effect describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evil action. It represents a transformation of human character that is significant in its consequences. Such transformations are more likely to occur in novel settings, in total situations, where social situational forces are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm, or set aside temporally, personal attributes of morality, compassion, or sense of justice and fair play. Evil is the exercise of power to intentionally harm (psychologically), hurt (physically), or destroy (mortally or spiritually) others. According to various scenarios of early Christian Church Fathers (from Cyprus, Armenia, Greece, and France), Lucifer was gods favorite angel, referred to as the Morning Star, as Light, as the Prince of the Power of Air, or of the Atmosphere. His sin, and the origin of his transformation into the Devil, stems from his envy of man and disobedience to God. Lucifer resented Gods command that all of the angels should worship the image of God in the newly created Adam. When Archangel Michael ordered all angels to worship this image of God, Jehovah, Lucifer refused. Allegedly, he said, I will not worship one inferior and subsequent to me. I am prior to him in creation. Before he was made, I was already made. He ought to worship me. Other angels subordinate to Lucifer similarly

refused to obey this command despite Michaels warning that God will be wrathful with them. Apparently a cosmic battle ensued in which Michaels legions ousted Lucifers and the fallen angels were cast out of heaven into Hell (paradoxically to a place created by God.) Lucifer is transformed into Satan, the Devil, following his fall from grace. The Devil then plans revenge against Adam to expose his weakness of spirit. He blames Adam for being sent out from the glory of heaven, expelled into the world, we were pained to see you in such bliss of delights [in Paradise]. So with deceit I assailed your wife [Eve] and made you to be expelled through her from the joys of your bliss, as I have been expelled from my glory. Thus, The Lucifer Effect represents this most extreme transformation imaginable from Gods favorite Angel into the Devil. My work has focused on lesser transformations of human character not as dramatic as this one, in which ordinary, even good people begin to engage in bad deeds, for a short time or longer, that qualify as evil. The best source for these materials about Lucifer and Satan is in the 2006 in-depth analyses by Henry Ansgar Kelly, Satan: A Biography (New York: Cambridge University Press). Click here to read more about fallen angels. The Major Fallen Angels, Devils In Hell n Book I of Paradise Lost, Milton names a whole list of the fallen angels as they came to be called when they became deities on earth; he gets these names from "de Dis Assyria," a scholarly work of his time. However, the Four MAJOR fallen angels who speak at the Demonic Conference in Book II are: 1. Moloch--who wants to make open war against heaven; he says he would rather be destroyed by God than accept their state; 2. Belial(associated with lewedness) who says, "let's sit tight and maybe God won't notice us and maybe we'll get used to the flames;" 3. Mammon, the "least erected spirit," who even when he was in Heaven spent all his time looking at the golden floors. He says, that Hell holds a lot of precious metals and gems and they should build an imitation heaven. He builds Pandemonium, the great palace where the demonic conference is taking place. And finally, 4. Beelzebub, who looks like a great statesman--very judicious and noble--and he is the one who makes the last proposal (though Satan thought it up): we cannot win against God; let's explore his newest creation, Earth, and seduce his new creatures, Adam and Eve, to our party. If they fall to hell where we are that would be a great revenge against God.

Read more about fallen angels, Lucifer, and what is the "Lucifer Effect."
When Dr. Philip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, first appeared, he and Dr. Phil examined what makes a good person do bad things. Now, they continue to explore blind obedience to authority and how social influences can have a negative impact on your life. Don't miss Dr. Zimbardo's eye-opening experiment on group conformity with teen girls. Would your daughter follow the crowd and bully an innocent victim? And, an ex-gang member speaks out about gang prevention and finding the courage to choose his own path. Plus, learn about Dr. Zimbardo's Heroic Imagination Project that teaches participants how to become everyday heroes.

Philip Zimbardo Professor Emeritus Stanford University