Are We Just Robots? The 'Free Will' Illusion, Explained by a Meat Bun

Are we really 'free'? Many people think so. We like to believe our thoughts and actions are our own choice. You can skip a video anytime, right? The shirt I wore, the meat buns I ate for breakfast - totally free choices, right? But, we all know everything has a cause and effect. Everything happening now is just the past playing out. You might believe in free behavior AND the world being ruled by cause and effect. Let's take my breakfast. Two meat buns and soy milk. 'Free will' folks say those were just my own thoughts. But the 'determined' thinkers say those thoughts didn't just appear. There were deep reasons. The donuts were too greasy, the dry noodles too dry, and I was just too lazy. Meat buns were right there, the noodles a block away. So, our 'free will' might just be a bunch of mental events leading to a predetermined outcome. 'Free will' is an illusion, say the determined thinkers. As the French philosopher, Paul-Henri Thiry d'Holbach, said, everything now is just a chain of events. We're all part of the physical world, ruled by physics. You might think your mind makes choices, but your mind is your brain, which is biology, which is physics. In this physical world, there's no room for free will. We're all just gears in a machine, doing what we're destined to do. Oedipus had to kill his father and marry his mother. I had to eat meat buns and soy milk. And you? You just had to watch this video, didn't you?