Retardation

En retard - Late -

The retarded mind comes late to thought.
It acts first and then justifies its actions afterwards - usually to others through itself.
The advanced mind comes late to action.
It thinks first to justify its acting beforehand - usually to itself through others.

The first will appear decisive and daring, especially to itself, even if it is thoughtless in its acting, and will claim that the justifications which it finds for its actions, after the fact, are supported by the consequences of its acting, in hindsight.
It will convince itself that it had thought itself forward when it has done so backwards.

The second will appear indecisive and cautious, even if it is thoughtful in its acting, and will claim that the justifications which it finds for its actions, before the fact, are supported by the consequences of its acting, in foresight.
It will convince itself that it has acted forward when it has done so backwards.

It is true that of the two methods the first is the most ubiquitous, owing to the fact that it is always an easier task to explain circumstances when they have already occurred and that have now become established instances of the past which can then be analyzed and memorized from the distance of the present. This requires neither great insight nor a completeness of thought or accuracy of awareness. It only requires the ability to construct a reasoned plausibility drawn from the selective interpretation of details as they become available through others - such as in history - and an instinctive drive to release oneself to whims and desires in the most primitive way.
The added advantage of this method of being is that it allows for the constant reinterpretation of events and the distance created by time creates some objective clarity, if the mind can retain the memories intact and devoid of egotism and if it has access to the details, either through abstracted memory or historical documentation, that participated in it.

It is for this basic reason why history repeats itself and why many people seem to fall into a pattern of action that can make them predictable and irrational. By the time an event is comprehended it has already occurred in imitation of previous events and the mind(s) that participated in recreating it took little heed, beforehand, of the signs that pointed back to a previous time.
The ego, often, resists projecting itself forwards, choosing instead to believe that the errors of the past were caused by another's weakness and another's inferiorities which it can avoid or surpass or correct; it resists learning from the experiences of others and is forced to repeat them in order to understand them - limiting itself to first-hand knowledge and placing emotional barriers between itself and the vast amounts of information available in its surroundings.
This lack of imagination coupled with arrogant egotism is a fundamental aspect of human frailty and establishes a limit to reason.

The second method will have the more difficult task of projecting into the future the accumulated result of its abstracted perceptions of the past and present - whether these accumulated perceptions were first-hand or second-hand experiences is of little importance.
The accuracy of its imagination and of its consequent predictions will be determined by how closely the results correspond with its expectations and how well it has perceived and incorporated details into its plan.

The first will rarely be disappointed or disheartened - it has few projected expectations but adapts its abstractions to whatever occurs, and interprets them according to its needs and desires; acting occurs intuitively and instinctively and is then incorporated into expectation.
The second faces the specter of disappointment and disillusionment constantly and will often feel unconfident with its ability to perceive and control its destiny, due to the vast amounts of information needing incorporation into a reliable abstraction and the acknowledgment that much more has been lost. It will often turn on itself in condemnation because, being a mere human mind, it cannot fully avoid error or control circumstances - taking full responsibility for its failings.

Where the first will blame it all on others, since it has participated little in its own destiny and has found an identity in acting and being for others through which it finds itself there in its past and explaining its present as predestined - the second will mostly blame itself, since its participation is greater in its own destiny and has found an identity in acting and being for itself and then imagining itself there in its future; a future that can never perfectly correspond to expectation and so always a source for dissatisfaction.

The retarded thinker will be weary of thinking - calling it "over-thinking" so as to avoid the shame, towards others, of thoughtlessness - because it is a hindrance to its acting through which it discovers itself in how others appreciate and value its acting.
The advanced thinker will be weary of acting - calling it "foolish" or even "meaningless" so as to avoid the shame, towards others, of inaction - because it is a hindrance to its thinking through which it realizes itself.