What is the difference between the beliefs of an existentialist and a fatalist?

Fatalism is the idea that we are not in control of our own lives, but that our fate is predetermined instead. <br><br>Existentialism, among other things, states that the meaning of life is to find meaning in life, but that life itself contains no inherent meaning except what we choose to assign it. Admittedly, existentialism is a lot more than this, but I think that's the main idea through all of existentialist philosophy.<br><br>It seems to me that one could look at the existentialist point of view and conclude that if we have to assign meaning to our lives, then there is no inherent meaning to life. Given that there is no inherent meaning to life except what we assign it, then any form of existence and life is meaningless and arbitrary. And what's the point of living if there is no inherent reason for existence? Nothing. <br><br>You can find meaning to your life by having children and passing on your beliefs and ideas about life to them, but that hardly changes the fact that if there is no inherent universal meaning to life, then that too is arbitrary. <br><br>Doesn't that just push us in the direction of fatalism in the end?