The Directions of Time

Towards the end of every year I become reflective.  For those of you who have learned vocabulary from TV commercials, that doesn't mean I shine in the presence of light, although I can do that too, with proper motivation.

No, in the waning days and hours of the year, I think about Time.  I don't think too long, and not too hard -I reserve that sort of thinking for Super Bowl odds, but I do reflect upon the subject.

For instance:  I am currently wondering whether the flow of time is unidirectional.  In other words, does time flow only in one direction, 'towards' the future?  Or can time 'reverse' flow and go in the other direction, 'towards' the past?  Can an object (or a person) move through time in either direction?  Or in both directions at once?

In the three physical dimensions, movement is not limited to one direction (reflect on it), so why should Time be?  If Time is truly a dimension and not merely a measure of degradation (see our old friend entropy), then it shouldn't be any more restricted in its movement than a physical dimension.  And, according to mathematicians, there are equations that pretty much prove that Time exists as a dimension.  Either it does, or the universe as we know it goes 'poof'.  Unless there are yet-to-be-defined mathematics that equate 'poof' to a happy continuous existence, I'll accept the former explanation.

So, then, which direction in Time are we moving?  

From all appearances, it would seem that Time is flowing in the direction of least resistance, in step with entropy.  We and all other objects in our universe are moving in a temporal direction that corresponds to the increasing disorganization of matter.  For many of us, a quick look in the mirror each morning supports this hypothesis.

But what's to say that must always be true?  

Doesn't Newton's Third Law of Motion state, 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'?  What if this is true for movement in Time? 

If so, then movement 'forward' in Time is either a reaction to an opposite and equal force, or moving 'forward' in Time creates an opposite and equal reaction.  Either way, something (object or force) is going the other direction.

OK, this is starting to go beyond reflection, and my brain is protesting at the unusual exercise. Time to quickly wrap this up.  Hmmm, 'quickly'.  That implies another property of Time - speed.  Does Time move at different rates?  Does Time move 'swiftly' forward but 'slowly' backward, like a car?

Ouch, I can take no more!  I think I'll wait until I've seen that new Brad Pitt movie, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', before reflecting any further.  

According to the trailers and promos, his character grows younger throughout the film, in full reverse to everyone else.  Of course, if he were truly moving in reverse in Time, he would get stupider as he got younger.  Unless, the collection of experience is independent of the directionality of Time, which would mean that different objects or energies could move in opposite directions in Time, simultaneously.  Damn!  There I go again.  Stopping now...