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Work #755 · Late

The Order of Time

Carlo Rovelli
2017 (Italian); 2018 (English) · Italian
Popular-philosophical physics essay · Twenty-first-century theoretical physics / philosophy of time

Rovelli's 2017 popular essay on the dissolution of time in fundamental physics

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Order of Time (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Discrete
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Non-Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Bi-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Curved
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Relational
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Relational
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Relational
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Order of Time

Time as relational, perspectival, thermodynamic.

Space

The Order of Time

Relational spacetime in loop quantum gravity.

Matter

The Order of Time

Relational matter in quantum gravity.

Observer

The Order of Time

The perspectival, thermodynamic, memorial observer.

Energy

The Order of Time

Energies of thermodynamic-relational world.

Information

The Order of Time

Information as the asymmetric, perspectival measure.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Order of Time

Rovelli's Order of Time: a contemporary statement of relational quantum gravity for general audiences; in dialogue with classical, relativistic, and quantum gravity perspectives.