How does the past effect the future?!?!?
Well this part of the question is easy, we would most likely not be here if it weren't for Hernando Cortez in 1519 when he started his long journey to conquering the Aztec. We would also probably not be here if people hadn't started farming 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. Major events that change the world will most definitely have a great effect on people tens of thousands of years later, even if they don't even know the event occurred. Likely in ancient times, we didn't speak verbally to each other, but there must have been a very important event a very long time ago that changed that. Most likely the majority of the population doesn't think about this everyday but it is at the heart of our society.