Jim Al-Khalili: The Ontology of Time. We Had It Backwards

SPONSORS: - Head to https://www.factormeals.com/toe50off and use code toe50off to get 50% off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year. - Get Tidy Today! Try CleanMyMac 7 days FREE and use my code THEORIES for 20% off - https://clnmy.com/THEORIES - Get 15% off OneSkin with the code TOE at https://www.oneskin.co/TOE #oneskinpod - I personally subscribe to The Economist. FLASH SALE through Sep 23, 2026: 60% off the annual subscription! No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Every episode days early, ad-free, plus my essays: https://curtjaimungal.com This episode is about what physics says is there when nobody is looking, including time itself. Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Surrey, joins to argue that the arrow of time is fundamental. Entropy increases because the arrow already points that way, and not the other way around. We discuss why he thinks the measurement problem is taught badly. He wants Bohmian mechanics to be right without claiming that it is, since the price is Einstein’s special relativity. He calls the past hypothesis a cheat. The conversation also covers the block universe, where he parts ways with Carlo Rovelli, and why he wants thermodynamics in the search for quantum gravity. I hope you enjoy. FOLLOW: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e - Substack: https://curtjaimungal.com - Twitter: https://x.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord: https://discord.gg/kBcnfNVwqs - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE - PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 TIMESTAMPS: - 00:00:00 - Quantum Measurement Problem - 08:44 - Realist Quantum Interpretations - 18:19 - Scientific Empathy and Explanation - 30:19 - Electron's Ontological State - 41:05 - Minkowski's Block Universe - 51:59 - Flow vs. Arrow of Time - 1:01:01 - Entropy and Past Hypothesis - 1:14:56 - Rovelli and Emergent Time - 1:25:40 - Incomplete vs. Approximate Physics - 1:31:57 - Causal Set Theory LINKS: - Jim Al-Khalili's Website: https://www.jimal-khalili.com/ - On Time [Book]: https://amzn.to/46PNLxK - Jim Al-Khalili's Channel [Video]: https://www.youtube.com/@UnbaffledScience - Quantum Reality Series [Video]: https://youtu.be/sivQ-jbZ2oM - The Decoherent Arrow of Time and the Entanglement Past Hypothesis [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.03418 - Block Theory: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time/ - Copenhagen Interpretation: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-copenhagen/ - Many Worlds: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-manyworlds/ - Bohmian Mechanics: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-bohm/ - Bell's Theorem: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bell-theorem/ - Collapse Theories: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-collapse/ - Schrödinger's Cat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat - Loschmidt's Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loschmidt%27s_paradox - Thermodynamic Asymmetry in Time: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-thermo/ - Space and Time [Paper]: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Space_and_Time - The Strangest Man [Book]: https://amazon.com/dp/B002LDM8QS?tag=toe08-20 - Beyond the Quantum [Book]: https://amazon.com/dp/0198853742?tag=toe08-20 - The Selfish Gene [Book]: https://amazon.com/dp/B01GI5F2FS?tag=toe08-20 - Universe Today Article: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/quantum-physicist-takes-aim-at-the-universes-mysterious-arrow-of-time Full reading list for this episode (all 37 sources): https://curtjaimungal.com Guests do not pay to appear. #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices