Reality Vs Perception Vs The Simulation

Have you seen these plants before? They're called strelitzia or birds-of-paradise flowers. I grew up around these plants because for some reason developers in Orange County, CA. made sure they were planted everywhere.

They're pretty stunning when in bloom so planting them everywhere wasn't a bad idea. I think they may have even influenced some children to grow up and become botanists or the like because they are so striking and different than most flowers.

Anyway, when I look at these flowers I can't help but see a bird. However, if I was an insect looking for nectar wouldn't a bird is the last thing I would want to see or be around? So why does this plant look like a bird? Or does it?

Is it our perception that it looks like a bird when in reality it's just a plant that through mutations and other forces it found it's way to this result? Or is it part of God's simulation and it does mimic a bird, leading to it being favored by humans to be planted for it's beauty and insects because humans made it more plentiful?

This leads me to another thing I've been thinking about for a long time and it's been bothering me, how and when do we decide when to do something? I'm specifically talking about the actual millisecond you go from a thought like, I should probably get up now, to the action of actually getting up. Something beyond an external force or reminder making us do so. What makes us actually perform an action?

I knew when I saw these flowers I had to stop and take pictures of them. I was already moving and in action driving so once the thought crossed my mind to take pictures of them the action was almost instant to do so. At least that was my perception.

When I'm in the USA and I have free time I doom scroll social media. Often times I have to catch myself and switch gears to do something productive like working on my mineral business or be active here on HIVE. What interests me is why or how do I go from, I'm wasting my life to instantly moving on to something productive?

Here is a thought experiment. Stare at the wall. Think about how long you should do it and when you should stop doing it. Did you stop right after you thought you should? What instantly, deep inside of you made you stop staring at the wall and change to do something else? Not because you thought you should, but when you actually did.

I know philosophers have contemplated these questions and I've read a bit in my youth, but I still don't understand how we decide and what makes us take action. Is it reality, freewill or pre-programmed in the simulation? Have you thought about this? Do you have an explanation?

Thanks for reading!