Time Is the Exhaust

This paper proposes that the arrow of time is not a fundamental property of thermodynamics, but rather the "exhaust" of a more primary computational process: **algorithmic pruning**. It argues that the universe functions as a Landauer erasure engine, where the collapse of multiple possible descriptions into a single definite state releases heat. In this view, time's arrow is the directional flow of that heat—the residue of reality buying definitude at the price of discarded alternatives.