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Based on first answer:

1) What implications does this have on the second law of thermodynamics?

2) What implications does this have on the big bang theory?

3) What implications does this have on free will?

2006-07-07 16:49:11 · 5 answers · asked by holdempokergame 1 in Science & Mathematics Physics

5 answers

Yes! This is one of the most frustrating realizations in the history of physics! All of our physical laws (expect a few special cases near the plank length in very special conditions) are fully reversible in space and time.

1) The second law says that entropy always increases, but that formulation is based on summing up the motions of billions of particles that make up a system under study. In theory, those particles are governed by classical and quantum physics, and so if we really wanted to, we could accurately predict their movement in time. HOWEVER, our laws are time-symmetric, and so if those laws imply that entropy increases towards the future, it must also increase towards the past!

3) Clearly, this means that either this exact moment that you are witnessing now is somehow the -least entropic- moment in ALL of history, OR that the conditions during the big bang created enough symmetry for entropy to be close to zero, so that entropy has simply continually increased with time since that moment. Finding out why and how that low entropy was achieved has been considered the crowning achievement of modern astrophysics. Essentially, it was discovered that the universe underwent massive, unimaginable expansion for a brief fraction of a second that spread everything out almost perfectly evenly, creating a very low entropy universe.

3) Tricky subject, and in my opinion, not one for scientists to debate, lets leave that for the philosophers, shall we?

Greenguy - get out of the math and science section, you hippy

2006-07-07 17:00:03 · answer #1 · answered by Argon 3 · 0 0

Many laws of physics are invariant under time reversal.

The second law is not one of them.

This is because it is an inequality.

It has dramatic implications for the Big Bang. It means that the Big Bang was a uniquely special event, with an exceptionally low entropy. It is not fully understood how it came to be so special, and modern theories like M-theory fall down badly on this too.

Contrary to what some here say, the second law is a very fundamental law that applies equally in the quantum realm. Finding something that broke the second law would be more shattering to the laws of physics than finding something travelling faster than the speed of light or breaking the law of conservation of mass.

I can't see that it has any implications on free will.

2006-07-08 04:14:16 · answer #2 · answered by Epidavros 4 · 0 0

Think of time like North and South on Earth. Let's say that the North Pole is the Big Bang (zero time). When we think "Well, what came before the Big Bang?" we should think "Well, what's more North than the North Pole?" The answer to both questions is 'nothing'. So, really, the Big Bang is just another point on the map of time. There's no boundary (just like there's no boundary to the surface of the Earth- no one has fallen of the Earth) but it is still finite. As far as entropy is concerned, entropy increases when time increases (moves towards the positive). If time decreases (moves in the negative direction), entropy would also decrease (giving us our symmetry). We can only experience time going forward, so this doesn't have any real implication on free will. Even if it is an 'illusion', it's one we can't overcome, so it doesn't seem to matter. Not enough is really understood about the potential to manoeuvre through time, so until that happens, it would be tough to say how that would affect our perception.

2006-07-08 01:52:26 · answer #3 · answered by Kris M 1 · 0 0

Time is actually an illusion, a man-made, thought driven phantom.
Time is what our minds use to create two points in a random, constantly changing universe. We think on something that did happen and compare it to something that is happening now, or something we think will happen later. It is also the source of all pain.

There is nothing that is constant and permanent in the universe anywhere, except for 'nothing' itself. Things are always in flux and in a vibratory state. For example, the desk or table that your computer is on, it is not still, the atoms in the object are actually moving at such a fast rate that you can not pass through it.

As for free will, what is it? All of your decisions are based upon thoughts. All of your thoughts are based upon events that 'have' happened, so in essence all any of us do is repeat things that have happened...unless your actions come from 'no-mind', the state of not thinking. The animals do this, but in a lesser form then humans are capable of.

2006-07-08 00:01:41 · answer #4 · answered by greenguy415 3 · 0 0

time is not symmertrical. ever wonder why at some times, time passes by quickly and at other times, time goes slowly?

2006-07-08 00:43:11 · answer #5 · answered by i_have_zero_ego 1 · 0 0

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