The author examines the more recent attempts to abolish the past in developmental psychology. Contextualistic developmental models, such as the one proposed by Michael Lewis, maintain that human behavior and emotions are determined by present conditions of life rather than by (early) childhood experiences. In his overview of the pertinent research concerning developmental psychology, neuropsychology, and psychology of memory, the author illustrates the one-sidedness of this approach. He then discusses social tendencies which may contribute to the relativization of the significance of the past; the constantly increasing speed of modernization in contemporary