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The Minkowski metric is time reversal symmetric. The bigger question in particle physics is "what are the symmetries of the action?"

It's not time reversal symmetric, but it's probably [CPT][1] (charge-parity-time reversal) symmetric.

If you forget about quantum field theory and consider classical physics in Minkowski space (or Cartesian space), then t -> -t indeed doesn't change the physical laws. You could tell the two apart, though, provided that the system is far from thermal equilibrium (e.g. "why is this egg uncracking spontaneously?").

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPT_symmetry



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