Arrow of time
Definition
The arrow of time is the difference between past and future. At bottom it comes from the second law of thermodynamics: entropy goes up.
On this site
It’s behind the energy a simulation needs. Landauer’s limit ties the irreversibility of erasure to an energy cost.
Role in the model
Landauer’s limit is the arrow of time with an energy cost attached. Each irreversible step the simulation takes erases information. Erasing costs heat, and that heat is entropy going up. The Power tile is the second law, shown in Suns.
Related
14 short pages, one per thinker, each with its matching dial. See also the reading list.