For this month's meeting, I'd like to discuss the topic of the flow of time.
What really sparked my interest is I heard a scientist discussing this issue and she said that none of the physical laws are time directional, in other words they don't support an 'arrow of time' as most humans perceive it. Following from this two distinct possibilities were presented:
1. There is a absolute flow of time from past to present to future. In this model, the future hasn't happened yet (whatever that means) and time is independent of human (or other) consciousness. The future could be considered non-linear and chaotic, and therefore impossible to predict except in the most limited domains. This is the model to which almost all humans prescribe, and even those that don’t usually operate day-to-day as if they do.
2. Flow of time is only human construct, and actually all 'moments' or 'states' or whatever of the universe exist simultaneously. In this case , the flow of time is purely a human construct.
An additional question regards single or multiple/infinite timelines or event sequences. Either model could be consistent with the universe splitting at any or all points. Certainly, option 2 where all states exist simultaneously in a single event sequence seems to be incredibly fatalistic.
One interesting question regards entropy, where systems tend to move from high to low potential energy and from ordered to a disordered states. Is this a genuine arrow of time or another human construct?
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