Does the past really exist?

You just reacted to this idea. It's almost impossible not to, because the existence of the past is one of those non-questionable realities that we base our concept of existence around.

That's why I'm challenging you on it . Psychologists have found that thought patterns used to recall the past and imagine the future are strikingly similar. Using functional resonance imaging to show areas of the brain at work, they have observed the same regions activated whenever a person remembers an event from the past or imagines himself in a future situation.

This has a lot of implications on actually how we view reality. Remember what you did yesterday. Does yesterday exist now, or just your memory of it? How reliable is your memory? Do you have video, photos, evidence? Of course you do. And all of that evidence is perceivable only in the present moment. So the past doesn't really exist, only evidence that you experienced something at some time.

Now, imagine what you will do tomorrow. Does tomorrow exist now, or just your imagination of it? How reliable is your imagination. Do you have video, photos, evidence of the future. Of course you don't. The future is perceivable only in the present moment. So the future doesn't really exist, only ideas that you will experience something at some time.

But here's the real thing to contemplate. If you spent as much time consciously imagining the future as you did operating from your beliefs about what you think happened in the past, how would your life change?

Why are some people much more certain about the future than others? Probably they spend more time actively creating the future into existance than you do, and less time reacting to a past that only exists as evidence that something happened.