Does the Thermodynamic Arrow Explain the Psychological Arrow of Time?

Abstract Drawing on the mechanistic model proposed by Mlodinow (Physical Review E 89:052102, 2014), as well as related approaches, this paper aims to demonstrate the shortcomings of attempts to reduce the psychological arrow of time—and, more broadly, the temporal asymmetry of traces—to the thermodynamic arrow of time. It is claimed that the temporal asymmetry of traces and the thermodynamic arrow of time are only arrows in time and therefore they need a more fundamental arrow of time to describe their behavior. It is further maintained that the basis for this fundamental arrow of time, together with the dynamics necessary for the explanation of the evolution of physical and biological systems, may be sought in the flow of time or some other philosophical conceptions, as postulated by a number of physicists and philosophers.