This book begins by justifying the premise of a block universe used the previous book. It explains the main philosophical conjectures regarding time, and attempts to unpick the confusing labyrinth of terms and nuances used to represent them.
One of the major differences in this work is that the block universe is distinguished from relativity's space-time. From the conjecture that the universe's content (whatever its true nature) is independent of the underlying continuum, it argues that the latter must be isotropic and without exotic geometries. This dove-tails with the fact that space-time is an anisotropic mathematical space that conflates our phenomenological measures of space and time, neither of which can be defined without the imposition of some frame of reference. Much of what we observe, therefore, arises from the nature of the content, which is postulated to be a single connected structure, albeit not in space or time.
The quantum block universe is a rethinking of quantum mechanics that is compatible with the block universe model. It reveals an acausal form of superdeterminism that removes the issue of the measurement problem and naturally accounts for quantum contextuality.
The prior distancing of physics from our axioms of experience is refined here by adopting arguments in absentia. As a rule of thumb, this nihilistic approach means that any goals or questions involving a why or how (e.g. 'how can something come from nothing?') must be dismissed as subjective. For instance, interpretations of probability in quantum mechanics and the second law of thermodynamics warranted a detailed examination of its true meaning in those areas.
The presumption of a unique fundamental cause for every effect is a millstone for both physicists and philosophers. At the physical scale then we might identify a cause as a change brought about through usable energy, and against the natural paths of entities and natural progression to a state to equilibrium, e.g. you push something and it moves. However, there is no such thing as an unreciprocated force, and so the identification of the causal agent becomes entirely subjective, and ultimately reliant upon our macroscopic concepts of identity and intent.
A block universe model implies a particular form of determinism ('block determinism') but the term has nuances in several fields, leading to confused discourse and weak arguments. A comparison of these yields a core meaning from which the other forms can be derived. Examples include causal, mathematical, and algorithmic determinism, the latter of which is important in the emergence of consciousness. Strong arguments are also presented against the viability of any notion of free will outside of our subjective reality, and hence that suggestions of a clash between determinism and free will are ill-founded.
As our picture of reality depends so much upon our perceptions, and even what we physically have access to, this work analyses what we really mean by information, evidence, and knowledge. How much can be really known, and does that knowledge truly extend beyond the realm of our subjective reality?
The work presents a clear and accurate exposition of the relativity of simultaneity and the so-called twin paradox: two repercussions of special relativity that are commonly misunderstood and misrepresented. Some specific technical topics covered in detail include the FLRW cosmological model, superdeterminism, variable speed of light theories (VSL), the Wheeler–DeWitt equation, and the Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory.