"Let's imagine this box represents the universe. Let's also imagine there are ice cubes inside the box, represented by black circles. In our model, the ice cubes represent physical matter. They are something in particular in a low-entropy state — a planet, a body, a car, etc.
Let's also imagine that there is a pool of lava surrounding the box. What will happen to the ice cubes?"
"They'll melt," Zac said. "They'll spread out into a liquid and then a gas, evenly distributed throughout the system."
"Exactly," I replied. "Their entropy will increase until there is nothing in particular in the system. Everything will be the same one thing. If everything's the same one thing, then space and time will cease to exist in the universe."
"How come?"
"Because space and time can only be defined relative to something else. If I'm floating in the middle of outer space, and everything is black, and there are no particular objects in the whole universe besides my own awareness, am I moving through space? How would you know? Is time going by? How would you know? To have a concept of space, I need to be here relative to there. To have a concept of time, I need to travel from here to there. It's like God said…"
From the No-Thing thus sprang the Everything — a spiritual event entirely consistent, incidentally, with what your scientists call The Big Bang theory. As the elements of all raced forth, time was created, for a thing was first here, then it was there — and the period it took to get from here to there was measurable.
Neale Donald Walsch
"Now," I continued, "instead of imagining that the box — which represents the universe — is surrounded by lava, I want you to imagine it's surrounded by a mathematical optimization that is pulling everything apart. This is similar to how lava heats the system and subsequently melts the ice cubes. There is a mathematical pull towards entropy."
"Hmmm," Zac said. "If the whole universe is mathematically pulling towards a high entropy state where everything is spread out, then how come we have particular things in our universe? How come I can hold this backpack or sit on this pier. They are particular objects, aren't they?"
"Yes," I agreed. "This brings me to my next point. If the algorithm that powers the universe only had a pull towards entropy, space and time would not exist because there would be nothing in particular in the system. There would be no ice cubes, so-to-speak.
Obviously, we do have space and time. We do have particular things in our universe, such as that backpack or this pier or the planet Mars. These clumps of matter are like ice cubes. They are somehow resisting the mathematical pull towards entropy. Therefore, in the algorithm that powers the universe, we would expect to see a kind of 'cooling' mechanism that resists entropy — in the same way that a cooling mechanism would prevent an ice-cube from melting. If I were to represent it visually, it might look something like this…"
