"Today we know that it is wrong. The notion of free will is up for debate. **Our actions are brought about by the interaction of thousands of factors – from genetic predisposition to upbringing, from education to the concentration of hormones between individual brain cells**. Still we hold firmly to the old image of self-governance. This is not only wrong but also morally questionable. As long as we believe in singular reasons, we will always be able to trace triumphs or disasters back to individuals and stamp them ‘responsible’. The idiotic hunt for a scapegoat goes hand-in-hand with the exercise of power – a game that people have been playing for thousands of years." -- --- **Tags** — [[quotes]], [[fundamental-attribution-error]], [[fallacy-of-the-single-cause]], [[because-justification]], [[falsification-of-history]], [[hindsight-bias]], [[fundamental-attribution-error]] **Source** — [[202308101525 — B — The Art of Thinking Clearly]]