Posted without comment, except to say that this is a fairly good reasonably concise summary of the salient theories of today and yesteryear.:
https://lithub.com/why-are-we-here-on-th...c-purpose/
https://lithub.com/why-are-we-here-on-th...c-purpose/
It's not the least charm of a theory that it is refutable. The hundred-times-refuted theory of "free will" owes its persistence to this charm alone; some one is always appearing who feels himself strong enough to refute it - Friedrich Nietzsche