I didn&#x27;t mean to imply that being aware of conditions is sufficient for being in control of them. Obviously that would be wrong.<p>&gt; Aggregate categories are invalid<p>In the search for a single factor, groups of factors seem like invalid entries.<p>Talking about the influence of chance on the outcome of a given set of circumstances in the universe, we&#x27;re getting into free will &#x2F; determinism here (and that&#x27;s probably not going to be a terribly productive discussion) so I&#x27;ll move on to your other point.<p>&gt; I think it&#x27;s harmful<p>I&#x27;ll concede that in a vacuum you&#x27;d be right, but we&#x27;re not in a vacuum. Making decisions based on factors you know about is different from consciously ignoring external factor outside your control or assuming that the factors you control are weighted more heavily. I think this conclusion of yours about my argument, though, is based on the &quot;awareness&quot; vs &quot;control&quot; confusion from above, so my overall conclusion is that we&#x27;re on the same page.