From the author: Reflections on the search for causes, the principle of causality in psychology, and three ways to perceive time. Published in the magazine Name.Where is the beginning of time? Is it worth exploring the motives of your actions? Are we exaggerating the role of the first step in the further course of events? Does everything that happens to us have a certain starting point? And is it really so useful to look for it? Who does the past protect? Our life is very diverse, but has a repeating motif from year to year. Everywhere you look and whoever you talk to, you will meet people who are preoccupied with finding reasons. As if the events that have already happened are not enough for them, they still need to find some kind of justification. Why did he do this to me, why does she talk like this, why did I react this way myself, and finally, why did life suddenly turn to me with this particular side of it, and not the one that I had every right to count on? Sometimes it seems as if part of humanity lives without leaving the past, and at every convenient opportunity returns to it. And we ourselves regularly perform similar somersaults in time. Of course, I want to find meaning in everything that happens. That is, to answer the question why people do this all the time. What is the essence of such a persistent craving for something that can neither be changed nor corrected? And is there a catch here that has gone unnoticed? The first answer that comes to mind is obvious to the point of banality. By exploring the past, we learn from it. We learn from our mistakes, find patterns in defeats and victories, analyze them and draw up strategies for the future. Those who do not know the past and are not interested in it are doomed to repeat mistakes and a series of defeats. Just like someone who examines it without due care. So, our interest in it, and a persistent search for reasons, is an instinct of self-preservation and common sense. The problem, however, is that this is absolutely not true. Because many people who visit their past in search of answers, not only do not learn from it, but also repeat the same tragic mistakes throughout their lives. In addition, upon careful observation, we will notice that these people are not really looking for any reasons. They are not interested in knowing why things turned out the way they did. They want them to do things differently. They dream of going back to the past and changing it. However, not having such an opportunity, they hide behind their question, repeating it again and again, in the unconscious hope that this repetition will magically change the course of events. The best proof is the fact that people generally don't question things when they get what they want. That is, they do not analyze victories and achievements. But they always run into the past when the present fails them. And the past accepts them like a mother’s cradle and lulls them into quiet embraces. The past is the mother from which we came. And whenever life is unfair and difficult, we, like its foolish children, resort to it for consolation. We rarely look to the past for new knowledge and experience. But we find peace, strength and protection there. The past gives us enormous power, we just need to know how to use it. And among us there will always be those who dream of such power. As a result, history becomes the object of political struggle. Because he who rules the past controls the future. Where does time flow from? However, not everyone is concerned with finding the reasons. Despite the fact that civilization was built by people moving from the past to the future, and preferring to rest on a solid foundation in everything they do, this is not the only option. There are different possibilities to exist in time, incompatible with each other, but existing on equal terms. According to the way we choose a starting point and build cause-and-effect relationships, we can be divided into three types. The first are the “analysts” described above. People who are oriented toward the past and try to find a reason for everything. They see in the past both the source of problems and the recipes for the right solutions. These are the defenders of the foundations, the faithfulestablished order. In every case, they show themselves to be supporters of long-tested and proven approaches. They usually value and preserve traditions, considering the past to be the measure of everything and the source of answers for every possible eventuality. It is common for an analyst to exaggerate the contribution of the past to today's realities. The past is infinitely more important for him, since it has power over the present. He places in the past both the lost golden age and the best hopes. A characteristic embodiment of past-oriented views has become psychoanalysis, aimed at memories and searches for the reasons for what is happening now. But the past cannot be changed, so searching for causes cannot always change the present. The second are today-oriented “pragmatists.” For them, reasons that lie in the past are not important. There is no point in delving into what we cannot change. There is only the eternal here and now. For them, the present is the main and only time. And the favorite question is not “Why?”, but “How can we do this?” These people want to perceive the world and act in a modern way, in accordance with the needs of the day. And the reason to act and the starting point for them is only the present. Such ideas are the roots of popular psychological theories that are common today. And even the concept of enlightenment, well known among spiritual seekers. A timeless existence here-and-now, filled with happiness, and devoid of the anxieties generated by the thought of the passage of time. However, no matter what theories their supporters put forward, this is only one of the possible ways to live. Besides, he is no better than others. Although everyone considers their own method to be the only correct one. Still others are “synthetics” living in the future. Neither the past nor the present, but only the unarrived and imaginary future is for them a really existing time. In dreams about him, they draw motives, emotions and reasons for their own actions, plans and ideas. The past past and the present that exists now are mirages for them, changeable, unsteady shadows cast by the coming tomorrow. Today's moment is only a tool to achieve the future. Their favorite pastime is the continuous thought experiment “What would happen if?” They are the best supporters of the ideas of progress. For them, evolution must have a goal, for which nature obediently selects tools. Due to the courage of their thinking, these people often outline tasks, the path to which will have to be paved by hard-working pragmatists and systems-minded analysts. They make good leaders, researchers and creators. But a beautiful dream is dead without practical implementation. Where does eternity hide? The differences between these categories of people are so significant that we can talk about three humanity neighboring on the same planet. Having an almost identical appearance, and possessing a uniformly arranged brain, they exist in practically non-intersecting time streams. Analysts live from the past to the future, synthetics rush towards them from the future to the past, while pragmatists exist across the usual time, being in a continuous now. The history of the origin of these differences is very controversial and mysterious. However, the very nature of time is an extremely dark matter, and despite repeated research, it eludes final understanding. Leaving the metaphysical aspects of the matter to philosophers, it should be noted that the gene responsible for the sense of time has not yet been found, although the situation may change in the future. However, so far we have reason to judge only the psychological differences between people. And these differences are so deep, and at the same time so rarely realized, that this leads to the most unexpected paradoxes and inconsistencies. It can be difficult for people with different time orientations to find a common language. This often leads to misunderstandings, resentment and conflicts. Which is not at all surprising. Because if you are looking for a reason, and suddenly they ask you about the goal, or start giving precise practical recommendations, it is very annoying. The opposite situation is equally concerning.»