Philosophy for Children Part Twelve: Democritus; Chance or choice is the issue!

Democritus was the first to claim that everything in the universe is made of tiny, invisible particles called atoms.

Democritus, the ancient Greek philosopher, is one of the people who talked about luck and how things happen. “Luck” is like winning a prize or finding your favorite toy. “Occurrence” means when things happen or happen. Sometimes things happen by chance, like finding a gold coin on the ground. Democritus did not believe much in luck. He thought that some events happen for no particular reason, just as sometimes it rains unexpectedly.

He was the first person to claim that everything in the world is made of tiny and invisible particles called atoms. These atoms move around and come together in different ways, causing things to happen, just as puzzle pieces fit together to form a picture.

Democritus believed that even if some occurrences seem random or chance, there is always a scientific explanation behind them. Just like the sun rises every day. Democritus thought that the random occurrence of events is a part of life, but we cannot always just blame everything on chance. We have to work hard and make good choices in our opportunities, just like people study for exams to get good grades.

Some events have nothing to do with our hard work. Democritus said that we should appreciate and enjoy moments that are called lucky, like a surprise visit with an old friend. He said that we shouldn’t be upset if sometimes things don’t go our way. Life is like a roller coaster with different ups and downs and we have to learn from every experience whether good or bad.

Democritus believed that we should learn to see unexpected occurrences as opportunities and enjoy the wonders of the world around us because it is close to discovering the magic in everyday things, like a beautiful sunset. So remember to enjoy life’s random moments, but work hard and learn from the experiences. Everything happens for a reason and we can find joy even in unexpected and unplanned events.

Think Station:

• If Democritus is right, every human being is a collection of atoms that move and act according to a specific order! In this case, how can you praise or punish someone for his work? Because everything seems to be predetermined. What you have done and what you will do next.

A Short story:

Two twin sisters named Hana and Mona study in school. One day, the school administrator announced that a competition was going to be held.

The competition was such that each person must correctly guess the number desired by the organizers of the competition out of a number of 20 available numbers. The moderator also said at the end of his speech that “three of the numbers are even numbers.”

Nina and Mona knew what numbers were called even. According to their knowledge, they guessed a number and sent it to the host of the competition.

Some time passed after this event and the time of the lottery came. Nina and Mona were able to guess the desired number correctly.

Nina turned to Mona and said: “Hurrah… we got lucky.”

What do you think?

Were they really lucky? Or did their knowledge bring them closer to winning?