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CHAPTER that link causes and effects. We can explain the mechanisms of the uni- verse by studying these laws as closely as possible. We can control our environment by steering clear of or applying these processes. Science has successfully and exhaustively researched causal relations. The repeated experience of a cause-effect relation demonstrates and there- fore determines the power of a lab test on which rests the conviction that this is the reality of the world. We have seen that this relation is not as clear-cut as we would like, because we add a temporal asymmetry to the description. Therefore, reality leaves us perplexed. This confusion brings about a certain uneasiness, for we make a distinction between what can and cannot be explained. The boundary is fuzzy and we need to look at the universe from another perspective that I am calling the causal function. This point of view clearly shows time is expressed as an intrinsic part of phenomena and cannot be seen as a separate phenomenon. Nature is not just made of structures that have their own internal inter- ference mechanism (intrinsic causal links). These structures interact and add complexity to the causal network. The structure of our body, for example, absorbs the structure called “water.” They become interlinked. The permanence of the links creates a constant need for interaction. Nevertheless, in some cases these ties are loosened. Two structures can interact with each other without producing significant interactions. Water is composed of molecules from which gas can be extracted. The chemical connections of this gas are ensured by electrons. However, these electrons cannot establish a link between two molecules. This is 359 The causal function: the future of science SCIENCE IS FOUNDED on the research of laws