Why are you doing what you’re doing right now? (okay, fine, before you read this) Societal norms? Personal reasons? When have you made a decision that was purely your own, without external pressures or environmental factors?

I’ll wait.

But what are you without an environment? From the moment you were born, all you’ve ever knew was the external environment. (Your physical body also counts as “external,” in a sense.) Are we merely just a product of our environment and our circumstances? Of stereotypes and social norms? Is your identity even yours, or an arbitrary mixture of the many events that constitute what you call a life?

I can’t tell you.

Can we make decisions for ourselves, independent of what’s going on around us? We would like to think so. But are even we rational to begin with, or are our choices just as arbitrary as lightning during a storm, sudden flashes of impulses and ambition crossing a dark sky devoid of meaning? Fleeting, emotionally charged responses to arbitrary changes in our environment and the chemical composition of our minds?

In either case, do we have control over our lives? Is it all just a facade of control? Do I have a choice in writing these sentences? I’ve been stuck in my mind for so long that I’ve stopped noticing.