Where we are born, and the genes we are born with, overwhelmingly determine who we are. And who we are determines many of the choices we make. It determines most of our culture and belief systems, including what god we pray to, what food we eat, what languages we speak. We make day to day choices with a brain that we did not choose. We did not create ourselves, because in order to have done that, we would have had to exist at the moment of creation, but that is a logical impossibility. The lottery of birth is a thought experiment eloquently described by Raoul Martinez in his book Creating Freedom, and it illustrates the huge role that luck plays in our lives. He concludes from this that we must revise our ideas of reward and punishment. The notion of "dessert" is valid when we talk about someone's need, as in an old lady "deserves" a seat on a bus more than a young man, but cannot be attached to any notion of moral praise or blame. Related: [[A brain tumour causes paedophile behaviour]]