{"id":27347,"date":"2017-03-13T05:45:34","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T09:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=27347"},"modified":"2017-03-12T18:17:50","modified_gmt":"2017-03-12T22:17:50","slug":"social-implications-second-law-thermodynamics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/03\/social-implications-second-law-thermodynamics\/","title":{"rendered":"The social implications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"15559246066_b31a92f623_o\"<\/a>In discussing the debacle at the Oscars, government incompetence, political surprises, and unintended cultural consequences,\u00a0Jonah Goldberg invokes the Second Law of Thermodynamics. \u00a0This is the principle in physics that closed systems will increase in entropy (become less ordered) unless energy is introduced to maintain the order. \u00a0(A lay definition by me, a layman. \u00a0Feel free to explain it better.)<\/p>\n

Goldberg applies this to social systems as well. \u00a0I suspect this is more of a figure of speech than an actual application of physics. \u00a0(Again, those of you who know, weigh in.)<\/p>\n

\n

But his point seems to hold true: \u00a0Our political system needs our continual input of energy to keep it going, otherwise, it will degenerate. \u00a0Societies, cultures, and institutions need the continual effort of their members to keep them from descending into chaos. \u00a0By extension, we could observe that marriages need continual work to keep them strong. \u00a0So do churches.<\/p>\n

What other applications do you see?<\/p>\n

From Jonah Goldberg,\u00a0Can a Scientific Law Explain the Oscar-night Debacle?:<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Steven Pinker recently wrote a wonderful little essay (for edge.org) on how people need to better appreciate the second law. Specifically, they need to understand that if we don\u2019t actively work to keep chaos at bay, entropy wins. \u201cClosed systems inexorably become less structured, less organized, less able to accomplish interesting and useful outcomes, until they slide into an equilibrium of gray, tepid, homogeneous monotony and stay there,\u201d Pinker writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Second Law of Thermodynamics,\u201d he adds, \u201cis acknowledged in everyday life\u201d whenever we say things like \u201cAshes to ashes,\u201d \u201cThings fall apart\u201d or \u201cRust never sleeps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complicated things are \u2026 complicated. If you don\u2019t work hard at keeping them running, the natural order of the universe is for them to break down. Planes don\u2019t \u201cwant\u201d to fly, bikes don\u2019t \u201cwant\u201d to stay upright, and people, markets and institutions don\u2019t always \u201cwant\u201d to behave the way experts in Washington want or expect them to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Pinker\u2019s essay is here<\/a>. \u00a0He applies the Second Law\u00a0to things like psychology, poverty, and the alleged meaninglessness of life.<\/p>\n

Is he taking this too far? \u00a0Note that he doesn\u2019t apply it to the credibility of evolution or to the liberal notion of progress.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration by Zappy\u2019s Technological Solutions, Flickr, Creative Commons License.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In discussing the debacle at the Oscars, government incompetence, political surprises, and unintended cultural consequences,\u00a0Jonah Goldberg invokes the Second Law of Thermodynamics. \u00a0This is the principle in physics that closed systems will increase in entropy (become less ordered) unless energy is introduced to maintain the order. \u00a0(A lay definition by me, a layman. \u00a0Feel free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,19,33,40],"tags":[5249],"class_list":["post-27347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-government","category-nature","category-science","tag-second-law-of-thermodynamics"],"yoast_head":"\nThe social implications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In discussing the debacle at the Oscars, 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