April 29, 2025

When Physics Gets Rid of Time and Quantum Theory | Julian Barbour

2 hours 22 minutes

What if quantum mechanics is not fundamental? What if time itself is an illusion? In this new episode, physicist Julian Barbour returns to share his most radical ideas yet. He proposes that the universe is built purely from ratios, that time is not fundamental, and that quantum mechanics might be replaced entirely without the need for wave functions or Planck’s constant. This may be the simplest vision of reality ever proposed.

As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe

Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com

Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE

Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join

Videos Mentioned:

Julian’s previous appearance on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bprxrGaf0Os

Neil Turok on TOE (Big Bang): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUp9x44N3uE

Neil Turok on TOE (Black Holes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZCa1pVE20

Debunking “All Possible Paths”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcY3ZtgYis0

John Vervaeke on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVj1KYGyesI

Jacob Barandes & Scott Aaronson on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbC3XZr9-c

The Dark History of Anti-Gravity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBA3RUxkZdc

Peter Woit on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTSeqsCgxj8

Books Mentioned:

The Monadology – G.W. Leibniz: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1546527664

The Janus Point – Julian Barbour: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0465095461

Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat – Carnot: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1514873974

Lucretius: On the Nature of Things: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0393341364

Heisenberg and the Interpretation of QM: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1107403510

Quantum Mechanics for Cosmologists: https://books.google.ca/books?id=qou0iiLPjyoC&pg=PA99

Faraday, Maxwell, and the EM Field: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1616149426

The Feeling of Life Itself – Christof Koch: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08BTCX4BM

Articles Mentioned:

Time’s Arrow and Simultaneity (Barbour): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.14179

On the Moving Force of Heat (Clausius): https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Clausius%20Moving%20Force%20heat%201851.pdf

On the Motions and Collisions of Elastic Spheres (Maxwell): http://www.alternativaverde.it/stel/documenti/Maxwell/1860/Maxwell%20%281860%29%20-%20Illustrations%20of%20the%20dynamical%20theory%20of%20gases.pdf

Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell–Boltzmann_distribution

Identification of a Gravitational Arrow of Time: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1409.0917

The Nature of Time: https://arxiv.org/pdf/0903.3489

The Solution to the Problem of Time in Shape Dynamics: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1302.6264

CPT-Symmetric Universe: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1803.08928

Mach’s Principle and Dynamical Theories (JSTOR): https://www.jstor.org/stable/2397395

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:35 Consciousness and the Nature of Reality

3:23 The Nature of Time and Change

7:01 The Role of Variety in Existence

9:23 Understanding Entropy and Temperature

36:10 Revisiting the Second Law of Thermodynamics

41:33 The Illusion of Entropy in the Universe

46:11 Rethinking the Past Hypothesis

55:03 Complexity, Order, and Newton's Influence

1:02:33 Evidence Beyond Quantum Mechanics

1:16:04 Age and Structure of the Universe

1:18:53 Open Universe and Ratios

1:20:15 Fundamental Particles and Ratios

1:24:20 Emergence of Structure in Age

1:27:11 Shapes and Their Explanations

1:32:54 Life and Variety in the Universe

1:44:27 Consciousness and Perception of Structure

1:57:22 Geometry, Experience, and Forces

2:09:27 The Role of Consciousness in Shape Dynamics

Support TOE on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt

Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs

#science

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more

View all episodes

By Theories of Everything

4.7

428428 ratings