Proto-Borean Time

III.b-10C.) Time

The Proto-Boreans had a similar conception of time to that of the Aymara: they conceived of the past as being before them and the future as being behind them. Speakers of the Aymara language will even gesture in front of them to indicate the past (pacha nayra) and gesture behind them to indicate the future (pacha qhipa). This is sensible considering we can see the past but not the future. Additionally, the past seems to grow larger as we move through time, as though we were moving toward a destination the past. In order for the Standard European conception of time to work, with humans constantly moving toward the future, we would essentially have to be walking backward through time, with our backs to the future and our eyes to the past, allowing us to see more of the past as we move away from it. Either way, the European view of the past being somehow "behind" us and the future lying "before" us is exceedingly difficult to rationalize compared to the much more logical Proto-Borean and Aymara concepts of time.