Oh, sorry, I'm not trying to contradict what you said, rather support and offer a (perhaps different) angle or detail. Dealing with criminals is just an exampl

Oh, sorry, I'm not trying to contradict what you said, rather support and offer a (perhaps different) angle or detail. Dealing with criminals is just an example. The same applies for the desire to form or not form a society. As for "why it it seems that [free will exists]", I want to say that a combination of the Incompleteness Theorem, the fact that we don't know enough to grok the entire state of the universe, that we don't know what the future holds, and that we have the ability to reflect upon the past that gives the "illusion" of choice. But even asking that question seems to assume that we are discussing the illusion of free will from a perspective _outside of the universe_. Just like we must assume the universe exists, we must also assume that free will _seems_ like it exists.