Symbolic forethought lets humans override environmental and genetic determinism.

Evidence

However, the evolution of the brain provided the neuronal structures for supplanting aimless environmental selection with cognitive agency. The emergence of language and the symbolic ability to comprehend, predict, and alter the course of events confers considerable functional advantages. With the power of forethought, human ancestors developed into a sentient, agentic species. … Their advanced symbolizing capacity enabled humans to transcend the dictates of their immediate environment and made them unique in their power to shape their environment and life courses. Through cognitive self-regulation, humans can visualize futures that act as present guides and motivators for purposeful behavior; order preferences rooted in personal values; construct, evaluate, and modify alternative courses of action to secure valued outcomes; and override environmental influences if necessary. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 153

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 153