This is what many call free will, and most scientists and philosophers agree that it is an illusion. Our actions are in fact literally predestined, determined by the laws of physics, the state of the universe, long before we were born, and, perhaps, by random events at the quantum level. We chose none of this, and so free will does not exist. I agree with the consensus, but it's not the big news that many of my colleagues seem to think it is. (2012) source Unverified