The concept of Ori and determinism

The concept of Ori in Yoruba metaphysical thought has always captivated the interest of many scholars, but its true meaning and nature has always been controversial. Ori (i.e., Chi), the immaterial or spiritual head, can simply be described as the bearer, the ruler and the controller of human destiny.

Many scholars and theologians argue that the traditional Yoruba thought, more specifically the concept of Ori, fits very well into the framework of hard-determinism or predestination, and thus lacks "free will "or binary choice. While it is true that the traditional Yoruba thought fits into hard-determinism, it is not true that the traditional Yoruba thought denies "free will" or binary choice. The traditional Yoruba thought recognizes that we live in a deterministic chaos dynamic world (i.e., Aye Loja), where every effect must have a cause (initial condition). 

Ori is the initial condition, which sets human activities into motion in a chaos dynamic world. Ori itself is not deterministic, but is required for making predictions in a chaos dynamic world. To further understand the concept of Ori, we shall look at IFA - IFA is the central science of the Yoruba metaphysical thought. IFA, fundamentally, tracks free will binary choice that comes with human decision process. So, if the traditional Yoruba thought indeed lacked "free will" or binary choice as claimed by some scholars, IFA would not have been developed to track "free will." The development of IFA divination as a "free will" tracking system testifies to the presence of "free will" choice in the traditional Yoruba thought. In other words, IFA reconciles the uncertainty or randmoness in human activities with the ever present determinism in the chaos dynamic world ("Einstein determinism" and "Heisenberg uncertainty"). While the initial condition or Ori is fixed, the IFA literary corpus tells us that Iwa Pele (Good character), Ise (hard work) and sacrifice can positively influence the outcome of "free will" choice made by man.

I have enclosed the mythology of Ori as described in the film stargate: The ark of Truth. While the film has no relevance whatsoever to the traditional Yoruba thought, the discerning minds would recognize the subliminal messages therein: "The Ori and the Alterans were one race millions of years ago and lived in a single society on an evolutionary path to ascension. However, a philosophical division emerged. The Ori grew more and more fervent in their religious belief, while the Alterans adopted a more scientific/rational outlook to become a more progressive society.....With the Ori outnumbering the Alterans, their viewpoints ultimately diverged so much that the two groups split apart and began to actively oppose each other, with the Ori attempting to kill the Alterans.....A gap was eventually bridged between the cultures. In consequence, the other Alterans left for the Milky Way Galaxy(to later be known as the Ancients)......The Ori conceived the Origin faith, one that placed them in the center of creation, and wrote down their guidelines in the Book of Origin to be administered to followers through Priors, missionaries and teachers of Origin.....The Ori were, for all intents and purposes, omnipotent and liked it. Even after they were presumably destroyed, their followers and Priors continued to use their powers and name to oppress and enslave thousands of people."