Oh, I think we absolutely are individually choosing this state.  It&#x27;s just that we&#x27;re responding to incentives that are basically emergent behavior resulting from the choices of everyone else.<p>You always have the choice to ignore incentives; that&#x27;s why they are <i>incentives</i> and not <i>compulsion</i>.  But ignoring an incentive means that you accept not getting the benefits that are offered by that incentive.  A lot of people forget that they can do this.  You don&#x27;t <i>have</i> to optimize your life to pick up every little goody that comes your way; you always have the option to say &quot;Yes, that&#x27;s nice, but I care about other stuff more.&quot;