Critically evaluate the theory that our memory for the past is a crucial element in imagining the future. Humans do not have the ability to travel through time; therefore the only way to detach themselves from the present is through their own mental world, where they can access past memories as well as future expectations. The only memory system that allows individuals to mentally travel through time is episodic memory. Bartlett (1932) proposed the idea that memory is not an actual reproduction of the past, but a constructive process in which distinct information from various sources is brought together. Therefore, episodic memory does not simply store and retrieve exact replicas of past experiences, but rather preserves detailed distinctive information that allows individuals to remember past events. Schacter and Addis (2007) argued that details of past episodes are also crucial to fabricating or imagining future scenes and occurring. This ability is called prospecting or episodic future thinking. The re-experiencing of past events and the capacity for pre-experiential episodes in the future are enabled by the same episodic memory system. However, because the future is not an exact duplication of the past, they argue that the simulation of future events is made possible by a constructive, rather than reproductive, system capable of extracting and recombining elements from past experiences to imagine the future. If this statement is correct, there should be considerable overlap in the psychological and neural processes involved in remembering the past and imagining the future. Shao, Yao, Ceci, and Wang (2010) reject Schacter and Addis' idea, arguing that future scenarios are not simply a reflection of the past but... at the heart of the paper... and in the future it operates on the same cognitive abilities . The argument was supported by presenting brief descriptions of behavioral studies and neuroimaging experiments, presenting evidence to support claims that remembering the past and imagining the future involves a shared brain network, and that imagining future scenarios requires collecting and modifying details of the past. Contrary to this view, the paper presented Shao, Yao, Ceci, and Wang's theory on the importance of individual self-concept in viewing future events, showing differences in people's past and future self-concepts. Furthermore, the essay was summarized with the idea that both views should meet on common ground, since mental time travel into the past and future is made possible by a shared brain network, however it is also influenced by acquired knowledge and not personal of the world. world.