Causal time asymmetry

Shunning passage of time explanations, the author seeks a reason for the earlier-to-later orientation of causality. The proposed formulation bases causal concepts directly upon those of coarse-grained entropy; in particular the time direction of causality aligns with the direction in which entropy increases. Further investigation shows that the number of possible causes for a given condition grossly exceeds the number of possible effects of the condition, consequently ruling out the possibility of necessary causes despite their frequent mention in the literature. The unruly diversity of possible causes means direct inference from present to past is nearly impossible. This leads to examination of how knowledge of the past is nevertheless possible and to a reinterpretation of the problem of induction. The author argues that at the ultimate level physical influence is bi-directional-coming from both past and future-but because of entropy increase, causality is detectable and exploitable in one direction only.