If something arose solely from something else, then that some ‘thing’ else could produce something completely different from itself or something the same as itself.

If something arose from both something else and itself, then what would that something be that is in the other and what is in it itself?

Would that something in something else be the same or different?

If something neither arose from itself, nor other, nor both, then from what did it arise?

Can something arise without conditions?

If so, then life would consist of things and situations independently arising. Nothing would have any relationship to anything else.

If everything that happens is due to God, chance, fate, destiny, karma, evolution, DNA, past lives, then our lives are like corks in a stormy ocean.

If we claim that there are none of these influences, then we have free will and free choice for anything we want.

If we claim powerful influences shape our lives, then what percentage of these major influences shape our lives? What percentage does not shape our lives?

If we say, we have free will, independent of these forces, then what would be an expression of a free will independent of such historical influences of causes and conditions?