Conditioning The Present

Furthermore, it is always possible to argue not that we are conditioned by the past, but that we use the past to condition ourselves in the present, and for reasons which are not historical but deeply inward and unknown."

Alan Watts

This one struck me like a koan. How about you? Isn't that interesting? In one striking statement, reasoning is inverted, and pointed directly at the 'ego,' crushing its game by revealing its secret workings (which are all so very obvious at this point). 

Imagine the effect this attitude could bring to psychology, sociology and the rest of the sciences? Religion?