How did people in the past imagine the world to work?

Look up mythiopic thought desu shits fucked get high and think aboht it

They didn't.
Things came and things went and everything was very chaotic and random on a basic level. The idea of a deterministic "clockwork universe" is a completely modern innovation.
This is why religion was so ubiquitous. It provided a second layer of causality that helped explain, at least in part, the randomness of world.
The Ancient Greeks are unique and vital because they were the first to reject the idea of divine-driven arbitrariness, and at least ATTEMPT some form of empiricism.

>>3298860
>Things came and things went and everything was very chaotic and random on a basic level.
Could you give an example?

>>3298868
Think how could you possibly explain stuff like rainbows, seeds, rain, dew, fire, lightening, planets and even pregnancy, old age and death without the benefit of modern scientific knowledge.
Moreover, think how would you explain personal catastrophes, diseases and accidents without your modern Enlightenment-induced sensibilities. The pull towards magical thinking in these cases is so strong that a lot of people still fall for it even today.

>>3298885
So basically just superstition, like Chinese (and many other people) still do today?

>>3298890
Well yes, superstition, but on a much deeper level and without any of the negative connotations the word has today.

>>3298860
Yep, this pretty much.