Bill G. (rwg@spnet.com) writes:

<<
Furthermore, if you run the "likely story" for a while, it will usually
(eventually) fly back apart as in the forward time case.  So the apparent
time disambiguation seems to be an illusion due to insufficient duration
of observation.  ?
>>

Yes, this is in synch with the Ehrenfest urn model of thermodynamics.  (Start with 2 urns, one with 50 white balls and the other with 50 black balls.  At each time step, pick a ball at random from each urn and interchange them.)  Initially, the balls almost certainly get more disordered.  Wait long enough (very long!!!) and they'll return to their original state. 

But in fact at any state of reasonably low entropy (once they've recovered from their initial conditions), there will be no difference between the states in forward time vs. those in backward time -- belying the flat-out statement that "entropy increases". 
Even projecting the minimal-entropy initial state backwards in time will be statistically identical to projecting it forwards, of course, by symmetry.

"Entropy increases" is not a law of physics, but rather a consequence of initial conditions.  In our universe it can be traced back to our local stars' having "advanced" rather than "retarded" radiation, or more accurately to their radiation being emanated toward us in the same direction that we perceive ourselves to grow older.  (So if there are stars with "retarded" radiation, i.e., being emanated in the time direction we call negative, their local life forms would see those stars just as we see ours, timewise.)

--Dan