Fortuitist

A person who believes that events occur by chance or luck, rather than as the result of a pre-determined plan or cause. Fortuitists emphasize the role of the unexpected and unplanned in shaping outcomes, often downplaying the influence of human agency, intention, or systematic factors. This perspective can apply to various fields, including philosophy, economics, history, and even personal life, where the individual attributes good or bad fortune to random circumstances. Their outlook focuses on embracing spontaneity and adapting to unexpected events. The core concept is that circumstances are often shaped by random, unpredictable events. They believe these shape the outcome regardless of how they are planned, with chance playing a significant role.

Fortuitist meaning with examples

• As a fortuitist, Sarah viewed her sudden promotion as a stroke of luck, attributing it more to being in the right place at the right time than to her own hard work or skills. She maintained that the timing was a random chance, and even though she took her role seriously, she never felt as though she could predict her results, because they largely relied on the circumstance she found herself in.
• The economic theorist, a staunch fortuitist, argued that market fluctuations are inherently unpredictable, driven by unforeseen events like technological breakthroughs or geopolitical crises, rejecting any claims of long-term economic planning based on controlled events. They maintained that, ultimately, the markets are random, and cannot be controlled by any one person or event.
• The historian, a self-proclaimed fortuitist, attributed the rise and fall of empires not to grand strategies or inevitable forces, but to a series of random, often minor, events that unexpectedly altered the course of history; which created an unpredictable narrative of success or failure and they were able to do.
• The gambler, embodying the fortuitist's perspective, relied on chance more than strategy, accepting both wins and losses as the inherent nature of games of probability, showing no dismay as to the results of the gamble, as they were only ever expecting chance.
• The artist, a devout fortuitist, embraced the unplanned aspects of their creative process, welcoming accidents and improvisations that arose during the creation of their work, allowing their pieces to take on a life of their own without any specific plan or direction from their own intuition.