1. Choice

Choice is defined, in the Oxford Dictionaries Online, as:

1. An act of choosing between two or more possibilities“.

1.1 [mass noun] The right or ability to choose.

1.2 A range of possibilities from which one or more may be chosen.

1.3 A thing or person which is chosen.

“What does choice look like in today's world?” | Krystal D'Costa | May 3, 2016 | Scientific American at https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/what-does-choice-look-like-in-today-s-world/

1.1 What are the conditions for choices?

Broadly speaking, on any path forward, we can choose from:

Condition	Choice path
Placid-clustered environment	Best!
Disturbed-reactive environment	Both~
Turbulent fields	More?

If time only moves one direction, we may never know the results of a path not chosen. If we don't choose, the choices may be made for us.

Collapse?

Strategy	Placid-clustered	Disturbed-reactive	Turbulent field
	←←	Environment	→→
Best	✓	Can be pre-empted by competitors	Can be decimated by external factors
Both	Wastes resources through misplaced suspicions	✓	Can be damaged by other parties flailing
More	Raises questions on value of integration	May be betrayed by alliance partners	✓

Each human being may be part of a family, a community, and/or a nation. Human beings have free will.

		Group
		Acquiesce	Responsive
Individual	Acquiesce	Random or drift	Individual subsumed to group
	Responsive	Group subsumed to individual	Creation or destruction

Random could result in consequences (which could be unintended, or unfortunate). May not be able to determine consequences.

Results tend to be analytically understandable, consequences tend to be systemic (and generally scary). People will avoid talking about consequences.

We make choices in context. We shape contexts.

Contexts can change.