Path dependency describes how the set of decisions one faces currently are limited by the decisions one has made in the past, even though past circumstances may no longer be relevant. Even though previous choices were made on chance or limited information with better options now being available, it is still easier to simply continue upon a pre-existing sub-optimal path than to create an entirely new one. In other words, the present is never a clean slate where we are free to make any decision. It is in fact contingent on how we got to this point. In a very broad sense, it means that history matters.