What if I choose to go to the gym and lift weights and then the pain defeats me so I choose to quit and never return because I can't handle the pain? Is that a real choice?
This is a specific question. My first thought is that if you experience any pain (not muscle soreness) while exercising (or specifically weight lifting), then you should contact the gym instructor or a personal trainer. If you still experience pain despite proper guidance then contact your general practitioner who may be able to refer you to a physiotherapist or a medical worker in the field of body movements.
But I assume you ask the question in the spirit of
choice: continue or quit if you can't handle untreatable pain when exercising. So if the medical route is not an option then it depends on how you deal with the pain. It's difficult for me to judge another person's pain threshold, and I'll assume we're not talking about muscle soreness which is meant to be temporary pain. If I were the one who experiences pain while lifting weights then I would try various things before I consider quitting. For example, [1] I won't lift weights and will do other exercises that suit me better and don't result in unbearable pain. Or [2] I'll modify the exercises by, for example, instead of lifting 20kg weights 10 times, lifting 2kg weights 100 times or until the pain starts to surface. I can take breaks to let the pain subside too. Or [3] I'll seek an alternative to the gym that give the same result as lifting weights or exercising in general. For example, a sports club, fitness class, etc. Although participating in such activities may result in the same unbearable pain—I don't know.
Having said that, I'd like to strike it off the record because I was simply describing how I would deal with the situation as described in your question. My real answer is that I disagree with phrasing the question as a choice between
continue and
quit if pain defeats you. I recognize that certain people can't do certain things. Like in your example, if you can't lift weights due to severe untreatable pain then it's not really a choice of whether to
continue or
quit. It's a force majeure. Similarly, I don't expect a blind person to make the choice of whether to drive a motor vehicle either. Sometimes there is no choice. My point of my previous post is that you've been dealt a hand of cards in life and you'll be able to choose how to play them (ice cream parlor example).
The only way to convince me otherwise is to see for myself being able to change something I never knew was possible, and even then I'd argue I had some mental advantage over other people.
This seems to be a catch 22, a deadlock. If I understand you correctly, you believe that you can't control your own live. And that you can't make choices: everything is already determined. Therefore, you won't try something that you think, or know, you won't be able to do. But if you never do something that you previous thought was impossible then you'll never change your view on whether you're able to control your own live. This actually confirms the thread title
"no one will ever convince me that...".
I have a question for you, assuming you've read this post in its entirely.
Is it already determined—written in stone—that you disagree with my point of view, or are you able to choose whether to agree, disagree or partially (dis)agree with my view in this very moment? If it's the former then you were right all along. If it's the latter then there's no longer a catch 22.
Sorry for the length of my post.
Edit: I understand the philosophical thought behind
"everything we choose to do is determine by genetics, upbringing, environment and other factors." If the statement is true then even disagreeing with this statement supports the statement. That the combination of my genetics, upbringing and environment is the reason for disagreeing with the statement.
But I don't treat philosophical thoughts as fact, as you may have seen by the way I (try to) phrase my sentences as my personal views on the subject. It can be beneficial to think about how external factors influence our decision-making and perhaps, in the process, you learn something new about yourself. It's just that I don't want an idea or concept or philosophical thought to dictate how I live my life. That is not to say whether it's true or false—I don't know, or at least I don't know of any substantial proof (e.g. peer-viewed medical studies) that support either side.
