I feel like some aspect of agency is lost here. When do you know you've made it? Our conscious thought is what gives us the sense of free will, but neuroscientists have proven with a few studies that our brain decides before we do. What is free about that?

As any other animal, we came from survivalist routes. I believe our "consciousness" and social abilities have allowed us to reach how far we've come as a species. But I think we can be studied in predictable ways like any other living thing that exists.