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How can anyone *do* anything in a deterministic universe?
If you become a drug addict, you had no choice. It's the big bang's fault. No effort you make matters. What will be will be and what you will do you will do.
You are confusing effort with free will. And also decision making with free will.
Free will is the belief that the past, including your personal past, including things that you have learned, past successes and failures, etc. as well as present conditions do not determine your action. Nothing more.
I happen to believe that if I work smart and hard, I will get ahead in the world.* This CAUSES me to work hard and at least occasionally smart. It doesn't bother me that there is a cause to my work ethic.
I also really enjoy tomatoes. This CAUSES me to buy them when they are in season. Tomatoes taste nasty out of season. This CAUSES me to not buy them when they are out of season. It also causes me to be sad and cranky when they are out of season. It also CAUSES me grow them each year.
In both cases, I am the proximate cause. I am the one making the decisions. However, my reasons for making these decisions are
beCAUSE of things that have happened in the past as well as what is happening right now.
By me being the proximate cause, I am acting as if I have free will, in a sense.
"In a sense" is the important part of that sentence. I am not acting as if I believe I have free will at all.
This does not imply anything about "if things were different, then I would have done x instead." Could I be a drug addict if things were different? Of course I could. However, things are not different than they are.** I have really good reasons to not be a drug addict. Can I see myself acting differently in the future? Of course I can. If I lost my son, I could see me potentially being a drug addict.
This is the essence of why I should still give a flying ****, despite having no free will. For instance, if I were a drug addict, it would hurt my son, myself and those around me. I don't want that, so I am not a drug addict.
*I have reasons for believing this. Namely, being a lazy bastard led me to not doing well, random crap that I learned as a child/teenager/young adult, watching others who have done well, and doing well myself in the past. There are also, "who I am" factors, such as personality, energy level, etc. These all CAUSE me to work hard.
**Nothing better than a good tautology.