I like that weather, too, Hec, but I've always thought it was because we don't have it often.

Physicists have a really hard time with time because, mathematically, there's nothing different about time compared to the other three dimensions. There shouldn't be any reason why we couldn't move around in time like we can move in space, and yet, we can't. And physicists can't say why.

!GFIA won thgir emit ni sdrawkcab gnilevart m'I

I didn't realize low entropy resulted in the distinction between past and future! I don't even know what that means, really.

The thing is that the laws of physics don't really specify a direction of time, the equations work no matter which direction time flows. However, the second law of thermodynamics states that a closed system will move from a state of low entropy to high entropy. This lets us say that lower entropy state is in the past and higher entropy is in the future.

Entropy can be thought of as the number of arrangements of the stuff in a system to look a certain way. A good way to think of that is an egg, there are less ways the stuff in an egg can be arranged if the egg is whole than if the egg is smashed. So the whole egg has lower entropy than a smashed egg.

Now apply this to the Universe. Early in the Universe, everything was in a tight, dense, and uniform state. There aren't a lot of arrangements for that state, so the Universe had low entropy. Now that stuff is all spread out so there are more arrangements and thus there is higher entropy. This lets us point to the early Universe and say that must be past while we can point to an even more spread out Universe and say that must be the future.

I responded to the Amazon seller with this:

I just thought it took a little long to ship for such a small package. I was satisfied with the price and the condition of the item. I'm not prone to inflate ratings if I don't feel the transaction was excellent. I don't think a neutral rating reflects poorly on your company as a seller. I noted that I was satisfied in my notes without disparaging you or your product. I would definitely order from you again but I feel the feedback accurately represents my experience.

Hey, on half.com once, I had a guy practically accuse me of pulling a fast one cause the book got lost in the mail. I didn't ask him to change it.

However, the second law of thermodynamics states that a closed system will move from a state of low entropy to high entropy.

This is off the subject, but some Intelligent Design people use the second law of thermodynamics to argue against evolution. See, a living thing has much lower entropy than just a mess of chemicals, and since "things go from low entropy to high", "evolution is impossible". That argument is idiotic, of course, because the Earth is not a closed system, as we get energy from the sun.

ARGH. Am trying to book Christmas tickets, but every time I click on a fare on Travelocity, the stupid thing comes back, "Oh, actually that one isn't available anymore, now it's (DOUBLE WHAT THAT FARE WAS)"...I don't want to spend $500 to get home, but I SURE as heck don't want to spend $1000 to get home!!!

...I'm starting to get really tempted to tell my parents that I will come visit them in January or something. Which would be awful of me, because Christmas is the only time I ever come home. But seriously, these prices are ridiculous.

Am I right in thinking "prodigal" is often used to mean long-lost-but-now-returning and not spendthrift?

I'm sure it doesn't help to answer the original question, but in Hebrew, it is.

Hey! You're right in Hebrew!

Oh, and ita, I'm sorry you had such an icky night.