This is great. I can revisit all these existential questions and start to approach acceptable answers.
So for agency I don't think we have free will, but I do believe in randomness. Randomness in the quantum positioning of electrons in the brain; in the neurotransmitter and hormone signalling. I think this is built into the system to provide memetic progress for the species.
Anyway the point is we do not control our free will. We do not control the tiger. But maybe we control the environment. Arrange the maze for when the tiger is released. So I'll work on that assumption since the other is a dead end.
We have a certain level of randomness at work in both our neurones and our hormones; a lot more in the hormones. This is what could be called free will, but we don't control it directly; what we do is use past data to create an environment where it will naturally be funnelled toward a desirable outcome.
So you customise the maze before releasing the tiger. Leave the keys by the door, pre-cook your dinners.
I think this happens in everyone, unconsciously. We sleep, we go through REM and NREM cycles and synaptically prune, then up comes the sun and off goes the tiger.
So even on tthe physical, reprogramming-of-the-brain level, this might be what's happening. A customisation of the maze, ready for when the tiger wakes.
But for now: leave your keys by the door.
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