Serendipity

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our Tuesday afternoon classes! Today we began with a discussion of fate and destiny. These two words are often used  interchangeably in casual conversation. According to Merriam-Webster’s Learners Dictionary:

fate (noun) :1 [noncount] : a power that is believed to control what happens in the future           :2 [count] : the things that will happen to a person or thing : the future that    someone or something will have

destiny (noun) : 1 [count] : what happens in the future : the things that someone or something will experience in the future                                                                                                                            :2 [noncount] : a power that is believed to control what happens in the future

Well, we brainstormed our ideas on fate and destiny and had a lively debate on what fate and destiny are and what are the differences and similarities. We also realized how difficult and complex fate and destiny really are. To help us out some more with this topic, we looked at the following quotes about fate and destiny and their meanings and if we agreed or not. Take a look at the quotes again here.

Next we watched this clip from the movie Serendipity, a romantic comedy that is all about fate and destiny and love.

 In this movie clip we see Sara and Jonathan who meet by fate and later discover they are attracted to each other by destiny. Sara and Jonathan go to an ice cream shop called Serendipity and decide that this word means fortunate accidents , lucky discoveries.  So, now we need to figure out what does serendipity mean?? According to Merriam-Webster’s Learners Dictionary 

serendipity (noun) :  luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for

The word serendipity was introduced by Horace Walpole in 1754 after he wrote a fairy tale called “The Three Prince of Serendip”. “Serendip” was the former name of Sri Lanka and in the story the characters make discoveries of things they are not looking for. Hence, the word serendipity was born! 

We talked about where we find serendipitous events in our lives – relationships, meeting friends, finding jobs, travelling to places, shopping, cooking, browsing in the library, and lots more. But, technology has changed serendipity, some of the changes are good and some are not. Take another look at Lenny Rachitsky”s talk on “Losing Serendipity” .

Lenny defines serendipity as “the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something unrelated”. So, are we losing serendipity?

 I guess we can summarize that fate is chance; destiny is choice; and serendipity is destiny with a sense of humor!

                                        Thanks for participating today, hope you find some serendipity!                                                            See you next week.