This philosophical line of thinking is without much basis. In certain Buddhist teachings is the idea that we really only have about 60% free will. That is, 40% of our actions are not something we ever could have done differently, but there's still room for plenty of actual choice. Personally this seems pretty high, but even 10% truly self-directed free will would still be astounding.

There's no scientific understanding of where exactly consciousness is rooted, so if you take that to assume it means there's no such thing as conscious choice, I conclude you are a fatalistic downer who I don't want to hang with.

> This philosophical line of thinking is without much basis.

It has exactly as much basis as the alternatives, explains the world just as well, gives the exact same predictions, but needs less assumptions.

BTW - why is lack of free will a downer? I perceive is as neutral.

>BTW - why is lack of free will a downer? I perceive is as neutral.

Not the GP, but lack of free will implies that people have no agency over their actions, and hence can't really take pride in anything they've accomplished. They're just squishy robots following their programming and lying to themselves about why they do the things they do.

Or at least that's one depressing way to interpret it.