Can people do “Anything they want?”
Identifying all human causes while assessing limits of capability presents a broad range of possibility.
In economics, experts are constantly being asked to make predictions, or describe relationships, sometimes even causal relationships, between various social variables. And yet, each of us view ourselves as autonomous agents, free to make decisions, however we may see fit, for whatever arbitrary reasons.
These two perspectives are in fundamental contradiction. I contend that based on the limits of our knowledge of self, the latter perspective is a much more accurate description of individuals.
But by assuming a categorical systems perspective, we can effectively identify many system features, system causes, and ultimately system outcomes. Only by describing the complete ecosystem is the individual understood or even meaningful.
We should not expect or anticipate the ability to do this exhaustively and comprehensively initially. Instead we must start with simple yet categorical assertions so we can gain some logical traction, as if we were solving a deductive puzzle, because that is exactly what we are doing.
If our assertions aren’t categorical, we must scrap them and start over with something more general. Otherwise these assertions can be invalidated without us recognizing that.
This is why I say things like: “Programs are structures which impose choice outcomes”, “Knowledge is an emergent systemic feature of programmed information systems arising through reflective information processes”, “Reflection is self observation”, “Peers perform choices according to programs whereby processes in information systems give rise to virtual entities”, “Peers are typed virtual entities of a common class”, “Self is an indivisible virtual social entity”, “Resources are objects of choice”, “Choice is performing programs and applies resources.”
“Can people do anything they want?” I hope you see there is a more accurate way to think about these things. Even so, self determination is an important idea, that makes sense once you accurately describe what self is.
Getting all these concepts right is just the starting point.
