In other words, it is the paradoxical hope that we can never know ourselves to be determined. The same considerations apply to the discussion of technological determinism. The more fully we understand how our artifacts dictate social structures and behavior, the more we are in a position to alter the terms of the dictation. That is the fundamental fact. But it also needs saying that every act we undertake in the world, every reshaping of the stuff of the world, is a weight upon the future.
Actions have consequences.
The solvent dumped in my yard last year affects my gardening possibilities this year. Everything I do today constrains me tomorrow. But all those actions yesterday did more than merely shift external circumstances. They were also inner gestures by which I shaped myself. And I am free to shape myself into an increasingly unaware agent, responding to external stimuli in an automatic fashion.