What is "railroading" to you (as a player)?

[Maxperson]

But why would a character choose the unwanted in a truly inopportune time in their world? And why would you, as the player controlling that character and supposedly making decisions based only on the character’s goals and desires, choose the unwanted when it might really impact their goals or those of others?

This premise is fatally flawed.

The character isn't choosing the unwanted, and the player does in fact make decisions outside of the character's goals and desires. The player DOES pick CHARACTER ACTIONS according to the character's goals and actions. However, the character reacts to that which is outside of character control based on what the player thinks is appropriate, even if that wouldn't be what the character wants.

Because there are usually multiple plausible outcomes for player decisions.

That's true. The player chooses the one he thinks most likely for his PC.