Mega-tangential sidelight about that "looking backward" thing:
Though its a common western theme to treat our relationship with the past/present/future as if we are standing in the present, looking at the future, with our backs to the pasts, which is consistent with the arrow of time, many cultures use the opposite metaphor - that because they have access to the past but cannot see the future, it's more appropriate to think of themselves as walking backwards into the future, staring at the past.
This is neat to me.