On the Reversibility of Physical Law

“Mind, or some aspect of it… has been regarded as the pattern after which the universe is to be conceived, for no better reason, at bottom, than that such a universe would not seem strange, and would give us the cozy feeling that every place is like home.” —Bertrand Russell,The Place of Science in a Liberal Education (1913) On the Reversibility of Physical Law is about small, simple ideas with radical consequences. Physics is concerned with the most fundamental constituents of nature, the systems, and laws that form the foundation of the universe. Out of these simple principles—interacting in complex ways—everything we see around us emerges. This work is meant to force us into conscious consideration of the world by embodying effects that defy our intuitive understanding, but which are nonetheless rigorously grounded. Science is the most powerful tool we have to understand the world as it really is, not merely as it seems. The originating problem of this series is that all classical laws operate the same with time running forward as with time running backwards, yet we experience time flowing inexorably in one direction. There are four ideas embodied in this series: The block universe model The interaction of entropy and infinite time Scale and perspective The emergency of simple laws from chaotic interactions