Acts are known only through their effects on the facts. But these effects are not governed by our intentions. We simply do, and see what happens.

Facts are mastered only as we affect them by our acts. But our affects do not question* our expectations. We look around, and see, there, what we have done.

That is, we control neither what facts result from our acts, not what desires emerge from our beliefs.

But, of course, our acts do affect the facts; and our beliefs affect our desires.

It's just that experience intervenes only empirically, between the facts and our beliefs about them, and normatively, between our acts and the desires that drive us to them.

Never between the fact and the act, nor the belief and the desire.

The intellect intervenes between the fact and the belief. (Facts don't make themselves known.) Volition intervenes between the desire and the act. (Acts do not master themselves.) To desire is not to intend and to believe is not to expect. We have some influence on these moments, some responsibility for them.

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*Update: this originally read "are not curious about," which I changed, first, to "are not wise to" and then to "are not aware of". But I was trying to develop the (pangrammatical) analogy to "governed by," and governance is to our institutions (and our intentions) as inquiry is to our intuitions (and expectations). After some struggle, I realized that the relevant mechanism (or the lack of machination, perhaps?) is precisely one of unquestioning affect.