Enlightened Resource Management

This was going to be a clever post about entropy and how we can use it to better ourselves, our lives and those around us.  Sadly, the post as originally written was crap.

So now you get a condensed version cleared of the crap.

I don’t remember learning about entropy in high school science class.  When I heard the word “entropy” I didn’t even even know what it meant or what the implications were.  But it’s important stuff.

What Entropy Is

Wikipedia summarizes what entropy is better than I can.  It’s rather dense but still accessible.

“The concept of entropy is defined by the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the entropy of a closed system always increases…It determines that thermal energy always flows spontaneously from regions of higher temperature to regions of lower temperature, in the form of heat. These processes reduce the state of order of the initial systems, and therefore entropy is an expression of disorder or randomness.”

For me, the core of entropy on a practical level surrounds the disorder and randomness it caused when left unchecked.

Framing the Relevance

My favorite example of entropy is what happens to an abandoned Porsche when left to sit out on the street for a year. Imagine that pretty hunk of metal in all its glory the day someone leaves it.  Pristine.  Gleaming.  Ready to carve up pavement.

Now imagine that beast of an eye sore one year later as it’s been neglected and left to the fickleness the elements.  It has flat tires and the body is corroded.  The battery is dead and the engine has deteriorated.  Someone came along to smash the windows and gut the useful items.

You can also imagine it the way Stephen Hawking does.

Imagine a box with marbles inside and the marbles are all on the same side of the box.  You then cover the box and shake it.  When you raise the cover and look inside the chances of the marbles all still being on that same side of the box magnificently low.

Bottom line: They will have moved from an organized state to a less organized state.

So How Does This Apply to You?

• A messy house doesn’t clean itself.  It gets dustier and more disorganized unless an active force (you) intervenes.
• The trash doesn’t take itself out.  It gets smellier and moldier as you add to it.  Lets not even think about what happens to it when it gets to the landfill.
• A lawn that is not mowed and a garden that is not tended to grows into something unmanageable.  Not that there is anything wrong with this.  The world obsesses with their immediate outside surroundings way too much.  Heck, you probably spend far too many of your precious resources trying to manage that which nature did not intend to be managed.
• The Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Talk about moving to a less organized state both literally and figuratively.

Time to Digress

I promise it’s not an excuse to bash people who spend their time making lawns look unnatural.  Our collective twisted sense of what a lawn should look like and, more importantly, our general environment, is something we should reflect upon.  Shouldn’t we let in a little more entropy and conserve our resources for something else?

I make this comment to point out that allowing entropy into our lives is not necessarily a bad thing.  I have to assume there is a reason the universe gravitates towards a natural state of disorder, separate from the scientific explanation why.

Pointless Amusement

In my original version of this I had some amusing links (to me at least) on the Internet about entropy.  Here they are with much less prominence in case you’re bored enough to spend a few minutes getting a chuckle.

• Homer Simpson noting the importance of obeying the laws of thermodynamics.
• MC Hawking on the nicely named CD “A Brief History of Rhyme”.  This is one of his greatest hits.
• A stupid picture I thought I would take wearing Melinda’s mittens made from the hair of Samoyeds.  The relevance to the original version of this post is not worth mentioning as it’s highly childish.  Warning: clicking on that link will take you to super cute pictures of a breed of dog we have in our family’s pack.

Recap

I may or not be projecting my shortcomings on you in this post.  I strongly suggest you let entropy runs its course more when it comes to your surroundings, both inside and outside the house.

Whether I think I have a valid point about entropy is not the point.  It’s whether you believe I have a valid point about entropy and whether you plan are going to do something about it.

Maybe this has helped you gain another tool in your belt to interact with the people and world around you?

Regardless, take action against inaction.

Better yet, let inaction lead to the type of outcome you want to influence.  When you know how disorder creeps into your life you can better take advantage of this knowledge and leverage it.

So How does entropy impact your life? 

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