“The dichotomy between the philosophers’ view on time and the scientists’ view of time gave rise to a conflict between philosophy and physics. Hegel, Bergson, Whitehead, Heidegger and Sartre had only contempt for science: Science is giving a distorted view of the universe, as it does not include the idea of the arrow of time, which is a basic, existential dimension of human beings. That led finally to a kind of war of cultures, which is still going on. This war of cultures is illustrated by the recent article by Sokal, or the polemical book by Sokal and Bricmont. One example that Bricmont and Sokal give to discredit philosophers is the famous discussion between Bergson and Einstein, which took place in Paris in 1922. Einstein gave a presentation of his theory of special relativity, and Bergson expressed some doubts about it. It is true that Bergson had not understood Einstein. But it is also true that Einstein had not understood Bergson. Bergson was fascinated by the role of creativity, of novelty in the history of the universe. But Einstein did not want any directed time. He repeated often that time, more precisely the arrow of time, is an “illusion.” So, these ideologies seem to be irreconcilable. Sokal and Bricmont use this confrontation to conclude that Bergson was crazy to provoke Einstein, and that philosophers should limit themselves to wisdom, to ethical problems, and not deal with science. But I believe that philosophy and science are connected; they’re both expressions of human culture, and you cannot make philosophy without taking into account the science of your time, or do science without understanding what are the problems which are of interest to your contemporaries. I even feel that in some sense the philosophers and artists and writers have anticipated what is happening now. For example, Kandinsky or Duchamp repeat “Determinism cannot be true,” and André Breton goes even so far as to state, “We should destroy laboratories because laboratories are giving us a false idea of men and of their existence.”

Curiously, this war of cultures is not only limited to philosophers, but it is also present in the writing of some scientists. For example, Steven Weinberg wrote, “Science should not interest the public because for the public, it is not important if relativity is right or wrong, or quantum mechanics is right or wrong. It should only be interesting to the public when you shall find the mechanism — the final mechanism — of the creation of the world and the definite formulation of the laws of nature.” That is of course, not for tomorrow. Also I think that it is a paradoxical statement, because after all science requires the co-operation of society. If the results of science would be of no interest to the citizen, then how dare to ask the citizen to support science?

In some way I see my own work as the work of reconciliation. I wanted to show that the direction of time can be inserted in the microscopic level of dynamics, and therefore, the famous dichotomy between the two cultures, between people like Heidegger and Einstein, loses its sense.” ### (via @pareidoliac)