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Time

Definition

Time is the ordering of state changes in a physical system, defined by irreversible dynamics and the persistence of records.

Time is not a container or background dimension; it is an emergent ordering that exists only where change leaves durable traces.

Ontic / Core Claim

Time exists when physical processes produce asymmetric, irreversible transitions that distinguish earlier from later states.

This requires:

• non-equilibrium dynamics,
• noise-driven exploration of state space,
• constraints that allow some distinctions to persist as records.

Without persistent records, state changes cannot be ordered, and time has no physical meaning beyond parameterization.

Time is therefore global in origin but local in realization, depending on which records are accessible within a given system.

Distillation

Time is what exists when change can be remembered.

Why it matters

• Entropy: The arrow of time follows from irreversible exploration of state space.
• Records: Memory is the substrate that makes before and after meaningful.
• Recursion: Iteration requires ordered state updates grounded in persistence.
• RDD coherence: Prevents treating time as fundamental while preserving its necessity.

Links

• Related atoms:

  • State Space
  • Constraint
  • Noise
  • Entropy
  • Persistent Distinction
  • Record (Memory Substrate)
  • Recursion

• Used in molecules:

  • Qualia

• Conflicts with:

  • Views that treat time as a fundamental container independent of change
  • Purely epistemic accounts of temporal ordering

Sources

• Source: Rovelli, C. (2019). The order of time (E. Segre & S. Carnell, Trans.; First Riverhead trade paperback edition). Riverhead Books.
  - Key: @rovelliOrderTime2019
  - Use here: Argues time emerges from thermodynamic and relational structure rather than as a fundamental background.

• Source: Barbour, J. B. (2001). The end of time: The next revolution in physics (Oxford Univ. Press Paperback ed). Oxford Univ. Press.
  - Key: @barbourEndTimeNext2001
  - Use here: Frames time as ordering of configurations rather than a flowing entity.

• Source: Price, H. (1997). Time’s arrow & Archimedes’ point: New directions for the physics of time. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195117981.001.0001
  - Key: @priceTimesArrowArchimedes1997
  - Use here: Analyzes the arrow of time as arising from boundary conditions and entropy.

Re-contextualization Log

• 2025-12-26 · context: Alignment with entropy, noise, and record atoms
  effect: clarified
  note: Replaced recursion-index definition with record-based ordering grounded in irreversible dynamics.