Village Idiot, I used to believe that stuff too. I think for the most part you're right, but it's a mechanistic view of the world that leads to what? If all human actions are preordained, and there is no free will, how can we judge anyone based on their actions? The default position on everything, would be "its not their fault, it was just their nature" - so we would have to tolerate everything, or accept that our own natures are incapable of tolerance beyond a certain point so don't blame us when we start killing people because we feel like it - after all, we don't have a choice in the matter. This is how the animal kingdom operates, from bacteria colonies to elephants. The law of the jungle, the law of instinct. Actually, a lot of human cultures seem to have been this way too. But what you describe as the "illusion" of self awareness, the choice to exercise will - not in an effort to satisfy instinct - but rather to override our animal nature for a higher purpose - well thats free will. The freedom to use the will as we see fit. In accordance with our higher mind, not our instincts. So what is the higher mind? Is that also a phantom of our brain electrochemistry? That is the crucial pivot of the argument: where do thoughts come from? Are they generated by the physical brain or by a higher non-physical power? If they are from the brain, then we are animals through and through, morality is an illusion, civilisation is an illusion, our cities are cultures are no more important than termite hills. We are, actually, a cancer on the planet which should be eradicated for the greater good of all nature. And nothing we can do will change that because we are incapable of change, originality, growth, etc, because we are just following our programming. But if we hold that thoughts come to us from a higher power, and our brains are just sensitive receptors - then we can exercise free will to act on those thoughts or not. Now we might say that even if thoughts came from a higher power, then we would still be puppets of that higher power, and without true free will. That may be the case, but its a better deal then being an animal. I have done thought transference experiments and derived knowledge of future events that there was no earthly way of knowing. Proved to my own satisfaction that thoughts are not a product of the brain, and information, intelligence is not confined by time and space. I can't prove it to you, but I choose to challenge the naturalistic argument whenever it appears - nothing personal!