Our perspective on the flow of time often hinders us from understanding that causal relationships are merely an illusion of perception. Many things become easier to grasp if we suddenly imagine that the cause is in the future and the effects are in the present.
For example, Michael Jackson. Having a ready-made Michael Jackson allows us to trace a clear chain of related events, all the way back to his childhood in a large musical African American family. In fact, Michael Jackson unequivocally defines his past.
At the same time, the fact that you were born a Black person in a musical family does not guarantee that you will become a pop star.
Or, let’s take a pilot as an example. This was clearly a boy who dreamed of the sky from a young age. Not of machines, not of mines, and not of reactors. In other words, being a “pilot” is the cause, while his childhood is the consequence. After all, in the reverse direction, it’s not enough to just be a boy dreaming of the sky to become a pilot.