Time & Mind: Was Einstein Wrong About Time?

The role of time in mainstream physics-as it arises in Newtonian theory, relativity theory, quantum theory, and the 2nd law of thermodynamics-is relatively well understood. However, there is a profound mystery concerning the passage of time associated with consciousness. Many physicists maintain that this passage is purely a feature of mind, going beyond physics itself, while others argue that it points to some new physical paradigm, perhaps associated with the marriage of relativity theory and quantum theory. Certainly, the status of time in any final theory of physics remains unclear.
The possibility that physics may eventually accommodate and elucidate the nature of consciousness and associated experience suggests the need to address issues that are currently viewed as being on the borders of physics and philosophy. It also impinges on developments in neurophysics, cognitive science and psychology. So this is an interdisciplinary problem and this conference brings together experts in all the relevant fields. There are contributions from the physicists Bernard Carr, Paul Davies, George Ellis and Lee Smolin, the neurophysicist Alex Gomez-Marin, the cognitive neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge, and the psychologists Jonathan Schooler and Marc Wittmann.
Although the conference is organized by Essentia Foundation-which is associated with the philosophical tradition of Idealism-it covered a wide range of approaches. Our vision is to cover topics that are relevant to Idealism, but not to exclude alternative views from the conference.
Timestamps
00:00 Brief overview
04:20 Bernard Carr - Introduction talk
15:50 George Ellis - There is no way a physical block universe can have come into existence: the future not yet determined!
54:34 Lee Smolin - The role of qualia in temporal naturalism
1:28:46 Bernard Carr - Making space for time and consciousness in physics
2:02:11 Jonathan Schooler - Could postulating three dimension of time address assorted disparities between physics and experience?
2:45:15 Panel discussion
Bernard J. Carr, host and co-organiser of this conference is Professor of mathematics and astronomy at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
George F. R. Ellis is emeritus Distinguished Professor of complex systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, this is the paper Ellis presented during the conference: arxiv.org/abs/2210.10107
Lee Smolin is faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and adjunct Professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto. See this paper on temporal naturalism: arxiv.org/abs/1310.8539
Jonathan Schooler is distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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