Comment by chrisknyfe

I think the idea that our lives are a set of branching paths, where once you go down one path you can't go down others, is partly a consequence of how the academic path of many careers is designed to "weed out" promising students from others. This "branching tree of time" illusion is created by the elitist, rejecting attitude of the gatekeepers of our society... and by our sensitivity to taking rejection personally in our young and formative years.

And maybe secretly we all wish things could've worked out with our first love... when in reality our first loves are those we are least likely to be compatible with in the long term.