This quantum theory predicts that the future might be influencing the past

[ravi_iitian]

“One of the weirder aspects of quantum mechanics could be explained by an equally weird idea – that causation can run backwards in time as well as forwards.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-physics-theory-predicts-future-might-influence-the-past-retroca...

[reinierb]

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@Ravindra B wrote:

“One of the weirder aspects of quantum mechanics could be explained by an equally weird idea – that causation can run backwards in time as well as forwards.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-physics-theory-predicts-future-might-influence-the-past-retroca...

From the article you referenced- "Critics object that there is complete time-symmetry in classical physics, and yet no apparent retrocausality. Why should the quantum world be any different?"

Simple really. Quantum-anything does not work on macro scales, so you can't, as the article speculates, "get a stomach ache today from tomorrow's bad lunch". Time flows in one direction only, so I wouldn't worry about this sort of stuff too much.  

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[versailles]

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@Reinier B wrote:

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Time flows in one direction only, so I wouldn't worry about this sort of stuff too much.  

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 The jury is still out about the fact that time actually flows.

[reinierb]

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@Rene K wrote:

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@Reinier B wrote:

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Time flows in one direction only, so I wouldn't worry about this sort of stuff too much.  

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 The jury is still out about the fact that time actually flows.

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 I'll agree that time does not flow in the same sense that water flows in a river bed.  

I was once a member of an astronomy club where this sort of stuff was debated ad nauseam. Guest speakers ranging from new age crackpots to nuclear phycisists used to blather on about the nature of time and how time may or may not be flowing backwards under some conditions until I got fed up and left the club. 

Actually, I did not leave. I was kicked out when I told one scientist that he was talking rubbish. I also told him that time (as we currently understand the concept) only progresses in one direction, as entropy clearly shows. Nothing ever gets any younger, and systems never rearrange themselves back into a state of order once they have reached a point of chaos- as his two advanced degrees should have taught him.

So, no, time does not flow like a river, but its progression can be measured regardless of the (time) scale you use.   

[versailles]

Lol Reinier, you live up to your grumpy reputation 🙂

But time is an interesting concept still. You can measure it since you are located within space-time and you can feel its flow for a reason that remains a mystery. However, there is much to learn from trying to understand its true nature.

[reinierb]

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@Rene K wrote:

Lol Reinier, you live up to your grumpy reputation 🙂

But time is an interesting concept still. You can measure it since you are located within space-time and you can feel its flow for a reason that remains a mystery. However, there is much to learn from trying to understand its true nature.

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 Grumpy? Me? Never!

You are right though, time is an interesting concept. Mostly because no one has as yet managed come up with a universally accepted definition for it, which means that for now, anyone can make time flow in any direction that suits them.  

In my opinion, we won't learn anything about the true nature of time until we understand the true nature of the Universe, which may yet turn out to be a function of time- as opposed to being the result of physical processes.