Also, check out physicist Julian Barbour's notion that the universe is entirely static, and that our mind 'constructs' the illusion of time's arrow by orderings its perception of a collection of configuration spaces he calls 'nows'
It's interesting how, in the OP, Barbour doesn't use much of the language he leaned on for "The End of Time' [1999, the source of the ideas I was referring to]. Maybe couching his ideas in more normal language is helping him reach a wider audience, which is great.
Side note : I once emailed Barbour with some question about his view of Machian dynamics, and he emailed me back a thoughtful and kind reply - helluva nice guy
p.s. his "other" book, 'The Discovery of Dynamics' aka 'Absolute or Relative Motion?,' is also a great read