Julian Barbour: The Janus Point and the Arrow of Time (#180)

Julian Barbour is the author of the highly regarded The Discovery of Dynamics and the bestseller The End of Time and now, The Janus Point. He received his PhD in physics from the University of Cologne in 1968. He is a past visiting professor of physics at the University of Oxford and lives on the edge of the scenic Cotswolds, UK. A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence. In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, Julian Barbour makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time — and shapes the destiny of the universe. Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward? Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the big bang becomes the "Janus point," a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions. Julian Barbour on "The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time" | Videos: https://youtube.com/watch?v=FMD8B7VRX0w&feature=share https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E0NmHQ0WLc 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:57 The story of the book cover. 00:04:33 What does time mean to you? 00:05:36 The influence of Ernst Mach. 00:09:11 About the "Royal" Zero. 00:28:30 Entaxy, thermodynamics and statistcal mechanics. 00:35:57 The cyclic universe. 00:41:28 The theoretical virtues of the Janus Point. 00:55:05 Is there a necessity for a theory of quantum gravity? 01:07:00 What is the failure of the "singularity" theory of cosmogenesis? 01:09:00 The essence of the Janus Point theory. 01:17:58 The Borde-Guth-Vilenkin Theorem 01:21:25 How do you reconcile the Janus Point Paradigm with current observations? 01:38:00 What would you put on a timeless monolith? 01:43:00 What is now possible that you once thought was not as a younger man? LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business this fall. It’s the largest marketplace for job seekers in the world, and it has great search features so that you can find candidates with any hard or soft skills that you need. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/impossible to post a job for free.  Audible is hands-down my favorite platform for consuming podcasts, fiction and nonfiction books! With an Audible membership, you can download titles and listen offline, anytime, anywhere. The Audible app is free and can be installed on all smartphones and tablets. You can listen across devices without losing your spot. Audible members don’t have to worry about using their credits right away.  Start your free 30-day trial today:  Audible.com/impossible or text “impossible” to 500-500 📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺 A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1 Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1 🏄‍♂️ Find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe for more great content https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 ✍️Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php 🎙️Listen on audio only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast.php A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices