Yes, the cables are active and can ID themselves when connected. Detection of another connected device (and orientation) is separate. So yes, it is possible to

Yes, the cables are active and can ID themselves when connected. Detection of another connected device (and orientation) is separate. So yes, it is possible to detect which end gets connected first, but this absolutely shouldn't have any side-effects. It is unintuitive and fragile (if the 'master' device restarts, it will think the other end connected first, suddenly becoming 'slave').