Is there such a thing as choice ?

[ib.me.ub]

Well, who knows. All I can say is that free will is not something really worth my time thinking about to any degree. I know I am able choose what I am going to do, say or think. I can change that at any given moment, depending on how I feel, and alter my behavior accordingly.

[Zenith]

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Pretty simply, who we are is made up of two things: nature, and nurture.

Nature is the information already encoded in our DNA: from our height to our skin color to our propensity to fall victim to addiction to a thousand other things.

Nurture is the experiences we live, the influence of the people around us and of society.

Now, we are born without nurture by definition, so there all our choices are made by our genetic information. Then, the influence of parents, then family, friends, teachers, makes us who we are. And every choice we make is dependent of what we already experienced. Even when we make a choice, it is dictated by nature or nurture. Even when you break away from what you have been taught, there is a natural or "nurtural" reason for it.

So the question is: since we are products of two concepts that we have absolutely no control over, do we make decisions at all or are we just complicated pre-programmed machines, with no free will ?

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I think the Nature (DNA) gives us some times a predisposition to be in a certain way, rather than forcing us (things inherited from our ancestors, perhaps ill-treatment of others or something). On the other side, the nurture - what we are being fed with have a great effect (we can even kill babies and commit genocides in the name of humanity). But on the other hand there is another thing (that is quite separate from the latter) and it is "experience", i.e. all you have passed through life yourself, as an individual, and have learned by yourself (not being taught/imposed by others).

As about the choice itself, I think we all have the ability to chose in certain moments, especially about the experiences we pass through - we think about them ourselves and conclude (and thus, chose) ourselves how things really are and what to do .

I really believe we are far more than robots.