The mind-bending physics of time | Sean Carroll

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In this Big Think interview, theoretical physicist Sean Carroll discusses the concept of time and the mysteries surrounding its properties. He notes that while we use the word "time" frequently in everyday language, the real puzzles arise when we consider the properties of time, such as the past, present, and future, and the fact that we can affect the future but not the past.

Carroll also discusses the concept of entropy, which is a measure of how disorganized or random a system is, and the second law of thermodynamics, which states that there is a natural tendency for things in the universe to go from a state of low entropy to high entropy. He explains that the arrow of time, or the perceived difference between the past and the future, arises due to the influence of the Big Bang and the fact that the universe began in a state of low entropy.

Carroll also touches on the possibility of time travel and the concept of the multiverse.

Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/explain-it-like-im-smart/the-Big-Bang-gave-us-time

0:00 What is time?
1:32 How the Big Bang gave us time
3:31 How entropy creates the experience of time

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About Sean Carroll:
Dr. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy — in effect, a joint appointment between physics and philosophy — at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Most of his career has been spent doing research on cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, looking at topics such as dark matter and dark energy, modified gravity, topological defects, extra dimensions, and violations of fundamental symmetries. These days, his focus has shifted to more foundational questions, both in quantum mechanics (origin of probability, emergence of space and time) and statistical mechanics (entropy and the arrow of time, emergence and causation, dynamics of complexity), bringing a more philosophical dimension to his work.

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Read more of our stories on the Big Bang:
Why we’ll never see back to the beginning of the Universe
► https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/never-see-beginning-universe/
The Big Bang no longer means what it used to
► https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/big-bang-meaning/
How to prove the Big Bang with an old TV set
► https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/big-bang-old-tv/

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