The Power of the Past over the Future
It is definite that the past has a lot of power over the future. In most cases, the past experiences usually affect an individual’s future choices on particular matters. Individuals use their past mistakes to make meaning out of their future lives. In the same way, scientists have gotten involved in the way the future is affected by the past. Taking for instance an individual who was jailed following some mistake done, it is unlikely that such a person can repeat similar incidences since they are aware that such actions might land them into problems. This paper looks at how the past affects the as proven by scientists. It is pertinent however to note that for human being behavior to be measured, animals were used to carry out experiments since they share a lot of common things with human beings.
The opinion that our past experiences affect the future has been taken following the recent scientific research which has shade a lot of light on the same issue. Prior to this, neuroscientists have found out the manner in which animals’ knowledge obtained through their experiences in the past possibly influence their behavior. In the experiment carried out, particular neurons referred to as place cells, were moved in a specific trend that indicates the animal’s movement through space. Through calculating the time influenced patterns and sequences recorded from the firing cells, the scientists could establish the section of the maze the animal was running at the time. During a different experience, it was established that some of the sequences of place cells in mice brains that fired during a new experience in space like running a novel network had previously happened while the animal rested before the event. This kind of proof offers a reason at the neuronal cycle level the idea through which past knowledge affects our decision particularly when we come across new situations.
Another reason why it is supposed that past experiences affect our future way of making decisions lies upon the fact that in a similar event, people are able to differ in their final decision. This comes as a result of these individuals having gone through past experiences concerning the particular matter hence formulating different ideas on the same. This is well indicated during the developmental stages of children. The way their behavior is shaped depends on their experiences in the past. The environment in which they grow at an earlier stage presents different experiences which in a later stage influence the manner in which they look at situations.
Past experiences have influenced the future of people in cases victims of post traumatic stress disorders. Such people, as a result of the distressing experiences that they underwent, it becomes so hard to forget these events ending up living with the effects of whatever they went through. It usually takes the spirited efforts of psychotherapists to recover these people so that they can lead a normal life just like any other person. This is a clear show of the manner in which past experiences can influence the future. Psychologists in fact suggest better methods of handling children at their early stages in life to get rid of bad behavior developing as a result of wrong past influences.
