The system and method of the present invention relates to the determining the specific ordering and execution of events from temporal constraints, filtering functions, and execution heuristics. To facilitate specification of event order objects be can associated with events in an object authoring system which provides for interaction, conditional behavior, and fuzzy relationships by dividing all time into past, present, and future. A user or developer can then perform all their work in the editable area marked "now." Items that may have happened prior to the current work show up in the "past" area and items which might happen in the future show up in the "future" area. A user can then associate and/or dissociate objects associated with events in the editable area, for instance by simply loosely specifying temporal relationships or constraints amongst objects rather than specifying an exact temporal sequence directly.