system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is there a way for us to freely choose our thoughts, or can we only think them in an unchosen manner?

I’ve been stuck on this question for awhile. 

It seems that upon introspection, when I think my thoughts, they simply just appear in my mind unchosen. I certainly don’t sit there and consciously deliberate between multiple possible options for what any given thought could be and then choose to think one of them. Indeed, if I were to do this regarding my *next* thought, the process of deliberation between options would automatically *be* my next thought.

Is there a way for us to freely choose our thoughts? 

As always, if anyone knows of philosophers who have addressed this topic, I would greatly appreciate your recommendations for further reading.
gpt
Schopenhauer talks a little bit about this in *The World as Will and Representation.* There's a good quote which I'll paraphrase: "a man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills". The 'first cause', as it were, of our psyche, is fundamentally outside our control, for it is simply the will of the universe extending through us.