The way I see time no longer resembles a straight, linear sequence. I don’t think cause always precedes effect.
The way I understand time and events now is that it is more like dropping a pebble in a pond. A circular ripple moves out in every direction. The pebble, the cause, affects what we call the past and the future.
With linear time, A causes B, C, and then D in the future. A is the cause of the other events because it happened first according to the way we experienced them.
A —> B —> C —> D
Ripple time could be that A causes B in the near past, causes C in the distant past, and causes D in the future.
C <— B <— A —> D
So, for example, because A will happen next Friday, I’ll experience C this morning and B two days from now.
Event A is the cause, the pebble dropped in my pond at the centre of the ripple.
We’ve made a huge assumption with how we view time and events that because we experience one event before another related event that the event we experienced first must be the cause and the second event the effect. Why?
So maybe that buddy who always takes credit for introducing you to your wife doesn’t deserve any credit at all. Maybe he suggested going to that party that night because you were going to meet her.