These questions conflate determinism with a lack of free will. But of course compatibilists reject this conflation. So these are rather easy questions for a compatibilist. Why do you maintain the illusion of choice if everything is predetermined? Because it's not an illusion. Why go through mental gymnastics if you don't have real freedom? Because you do. Etc.

Forgive me, I’m a layman. I’m sure I’m conflating things, I’m just starting to dive deeper into this debate and trying to figure out where I stand on things. My friend is advocating for a sort of clockwork universe where everything is entirely mechanistic and human behavior has no random element of choice whatsoever. My question to that is, why do I even appear to have the illusion of choice? I’m not sure if I’m a compatibilist or not, I just learned the term. Basically, I was taking the position that I do in fact have a degree of choice regarding my actions, but because of unconscious biological and psychological processes, it’s much more limited than the classical version of free will most average people think of.

Because the decision-making process that human beings engage in is governed by more than one's instincts for self-preservation.

Of course, but why would I be biologically predetermined to do senseless things like...

Like, what if I just decided to shoot myself in the head for no reason other than to convince the person I’m arguing against that I do in fact have the ability to choose my actions?

I guess my point is, could this just be reduced to the fact that due to my psychological constitution it was inevitable that I would shoot myself for no reason other than to try to prove a point in a debate?

Again I think I'm missing the point of this question.

I’m having a hard time articulating my point. I guess what I’m getting at is, why does it seem like I can choose to do things that go against my normal character that also go against all my biological drives? It pretty much just boils down to my earlier question: how do people that argue for a lack of free will account for my perceived freedom of choice? Why do I appear to be able to perform irrational acts of radical freedom for no reason other than just because I want to prove that I can? Why am I not just an automaton with no self awareness?

And what are the strongest arguments against hard determinism?

I’ll check out your recommendation when I have time, but right now I was trying to get a basic overview for the arguments for the existence of free will. Also, I want to know if anything I’m saying is philosophically stupid and how these questions I’m bringing up have been addressed.