Free will is an illusion that we maintain because it makes punishment feel justified. I've read about Libet's experiments and the more recent replication studies showing brain activity precedes conscious decision by up to a second, yet we still lock people up as if they could have chosen otherwise. Even if we accept determinism isn't total, quantum randomness doesn't give us agency — it's just dice rolls. But here's what bugs me: if I genuinely believed this, I'd have to rethink every moral judgment I make, and I'm not sure I can live with that conclusion. Should we hold people accountable when their actions are just the unfolding of prior causes?