S&M talk: Naftali Weinberger

On the dominant account of the direction of time, the Past Hypothesis – which posits that the universe began in a low entropy state – underlies all time-directed behaviors, including the generalization that causes precede their effects. According to Albert (2003, 2015), it does so by fixing the initial conditions of the universe, which underwrite the reliability of records, and this in turn explains why agents cannot causally intervene to change the past. Here I use graphical causal models to propose an alternate way that the Past Hypothesis could account for the time-asymmetry of causation. On this account, causal relationships arise in systems that are away from equilibrium, and the Past Hypothesis accounts for causal directionality through providing the out-of-equilibrium conditions that enable causal relationships to obtain. The causal asymmetry is not explained by the asymmetries of records and agency, but rather explains them.  
 

https://www.llc-philosophy.unito.it/science-more-llc/science-more-seminars#h.2xt3uiedolb5