The Guardian

The big idea: could you have made different choices in life?

Now is the time when we look back over the past year and wonder: how did I do? Did I make the right decisions? Could I have made better ones?

Well, could you? A determinist who believes that the world unfolds in an inexorably preordained manner would say not. If, on the other hand, you believe in free will, you might feel sure that other decisions were available to you, other paths not taken. “I could have done otherwise” is sometimes taken as the very definition of free will.

But asking if you could have chosen differently is not a yes or no question – in fact, it is simply devoid

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