I think you&#x27;re putting <i>way</i> too much faith in &quot;free will&quot;.<p>The idea isn&#x27;t that obesity is 100% caused by bacteria, or genes, or unicorns. Of course it&#x27;s a function of your eating choices - you can choose not to eat and you won&#x27;t die a fat man. The problem is that people arguing obesity is &quot;just a choice&quot; and overweight people are &quot;just lazy&quot; are missing the point that some &quot;choices&quot; aren&#x27;t practical. If obesity was &quot;just a choice&quot;, we wouldn&#x27;t have this problem after decades of <i>massive</i> shaming of overweight people <i>and</i> massive push for fitness and everything-fit. Instead, the more we shame people for being obese, the more population <i>stays obese</i>. Interesting, isn&#x27;t it?<p>Anyway, Yvain discusses this and related topics better than I ever could:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lesswrong.com&#x2F;lw&#x2F;2as&#x2F;diseased_thinking_dissolving_questions_about&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lesswrong.com&#x2F;lw&#x2F;2as&#x2F;diseased_thinking_dissolving_que...</a><p>Also:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;10&#x2F;society-is-fixed-biology-is-mutable&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;10&#x2F;society-is-fixed-biolog...</a>