Past 758833 225008062 2008-07-11T12:54:14Z 79.179.119.109 [[Image:Maximov Everything In the Past.jpg|thumb|320px|[[Vassily Maximov]], "Everything is in the past" (1889).]] The '''past''' is the portion of [[time]] that has already occurred; it is the opposite of the [[future]]. It is also contrasted with the [[present]]. It is also regarded as the conglomerate of [[Spacetime#Basic concepts|events]] that happened in a ''certain point'' in time, within the [[Space-time continuum]]. The aforementioned conception is closely related to [[Albert Einstein]]'s [[relativity theory]]. Humans have recorded the past since ancient times, and to some extent, one of the defining characteristics of human beings is that they are able to record the past, recall it, remember it and confront it with the current state of affairs, thus enabling them to plan accordingly for the [[future]], and to theorise about it as well. ==In philosophy== According to [[Presentism (philosophy of time)|presentism]], the past does not strictly exist; however, the methods of all sciences study the world's past, through the process of evaluating evidence. [[Image:World line2.svg|250px|right|thumb|A visualisation of the past [[light cone]] (at bottom), the present, and the [[future]] light cone in 2D space.]] ==In physics== <!-- more detailed version is presented in ru.wiki --> In [[classical physics]] the past is just a half of the timeline. In [[special relativity]] the past is considered as [[absolute past]] or [[Light cone|the past cone]]. In [[Earth (planet)|Earth]]'s scale the difference between "classical" and "relativist" past is less than 0.05 [[second|s]], so it can be neglected in most cases. ==In other fields== The past is the object of such fields as [[history]], [[archaeology]], [[archaeoastronomy]], [[chronology]], [[geology]], ([[historical geology]]), [[historical linguistics]], [[law]], [[paleontology]], [[paleobotany]], [[paleoethnobotany]], [[palaeogeography]], [[paleoclimatology]], and [[physical cosmology|cosmology]]. ==Quote== {{quotation|Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.|[[George Santayana]]|[[The Life of Reason]]<ref>Santayana, George (1905). ''The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, [http://books.google.com/books?id=sCYOer5Ttn8C&pg=PA284&dq=%22reason+in+common+sense%22#PPA284,M1 284].</ref>}} ==See also== {{Wiktionary|past}} *[[Antiquarian]] *[[Fossil]] *[[Memory]] *[[Past tense]] *[[Retro]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{Time Topics}} {{standard-stub}} [[Category:Time]] [[cs:Minulost]] [[da:Fortid]] [[de:Vergangenheit]] [[et:Minevik]] [[es:Pasado]] [[fr:Passé]] [[ko:과거]] [[he:עבר]] [[ja:過去]] [[it:Passato]] [[no:Fortid]] [[pt:Passado]] [[qu:Ñawpa pacha]] [[ru:Прошлое]] [[simple:Past]] [[fi:Menneisyys]]