Addendum for the future: Concepts like agents, agency, and choice only make sense at the systemic macroscale. If you had total atomic knowledge (complete knowledge of every single particle interaction in a human—which, as we discussed, basically requires complete knowledge of every single particle interaction in the universe), the determinists are right. There is no choice. It’s only neurons firing and chemicals bonding. But we operate at a higher level, with noise and uncertainty. Then preferences and policies make sense as things to talk about.
Addendum for the future: Concepts like agents, agency, and choice only make sense at the systemic macroscale. If you had total atomic knowledge (complete knowledge of every single particle interaction in a human—which, as we discussed, basically requires complete knowledge of every single particle interaction in the universe), the determinists are right. There is no choice. It’s only neurons firing and chemicals bonding. But we operate at a higher level, with noise and uncertainty. Then preferences and policies make sense as things to talk about.