Boltzmann-Schuetz hypothesis
Boltzmann and Schuetz claimed that in a universe that is near thermal equilibrium, and given sufficient time, there will be regions where there is a temporary deviation into a low entropy state, from which it will trend back to equilibrium. Anthropic selection accounts for us being in such a region.
Boltzmann suggested this explanation in a letter to
Nature in 1895 - he attributes the idea 'to my old assistant Dr Schuetz'. The basic idea is depicted in the following diagram. The downward spikes represent low-entropy occurrences, with the system in the high entropy state most of the time. We are presumed to be at some position like A or B - the slope doesn't matter (case C is discussed elsewhere).
![](Handler.ashx?path=ROOT/u8432/entropyflucts.gif)
Note that in the passage cited below Boltzmann presumes that the thermodynamic arrow determines the psychological arrow of time. This issue is explored elsewhere in the map (follow cross-link).