On the question of free will and pre-determination,

[MineralMan]

9. The coin flip is effectively random, because even if we knew all the factors

that determined its final rest position, we could not control them well enough to flip coins predictably. In the real world, flipping coins manually results in a random sort.

I know what you're saying, and you're right if you take the determination far enough. But, we don't live in that reality. We live in the reality where a coin flip produces a random set of results.

Free will operates within the restrictions of the practical reality in which we live. Our brains operate on that basis as well. So, we do make choices. They don't matter in the larger scheme of things, but they do within our own reality, and that's all that matters.

As human beings, we are an organized collection of cells that operates for a very short period of time, and then disintegrates into various chemicals. While the organism is active, however, we act independently to a certain degree. I cannot choose to fly on my own, but I can choose to build an airplane in which to fly. Based on information created over time by other humans, I could actually do that in my own garage, which I could also build. I won't, but I could.

We are what we are, a limited organism that has evolved to be able to do unique things. We have whatever degree of free will that fits within the parameters of our existence. The free will I am talking about is experiential, not intrinsic, and it does indeed exist.

I exist as long as I live. I did not exist before I lived and will not exist after I stop living. In between, I have experiential free will. That's good enough for me, I think.