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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » At birth we all come with the seeds of our destruction deep within. Our "USE BY" date or "SELL BY" date or "DISCARD BY. No exceptions?"
RosieG

At birth we all come with the seeds of our destruction deep within. Our "USE BY" date or "SELL BY" date or "DISCARD BY. No exceptions?"

Entropy.

Definition 4.
A doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration

Definition 3  Cosmology
A hypothetical tendency for the universe to reach a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is at a uniform temperature

Definition 1 Thermodynamics
A function of thermodynamic variables such as temperature pressure or composition that is a measure of the energy not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy

In data transmission and information theory a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted signal (like playing "telephone"?)

If you are a user of that word in which context, to which definition or which of its many meanings do you refer in general?.

Posted - January 27, 2021
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Responses


  • 3719
    Not exactly an everyday word for me but I prefer to use technical terms, as entropy originated, in their technical senses, not as metaphors.

    However, if we consider entropy in social breakdown terms it does not square with its real meanings, because a thermodynamic or cosmological entropy is basically a state of equilibrium.


    A very basic and perhaps not very accurate illustration would be if you switch off your fridge, open it and let it defrost but in a closed and very well insulated room. Entropy in that "thermodynamic system" is at maximum when the fridge cabinet, melt-water and everything in the kitchen have all reached the same temperature. The fridge's interior would be a lot warmer and the room air very slightly cooler, than previously. In that state the heat energy in the system is now shared evenly around. It is still there (assuming no loss or gain from outside the room) because you cannot create or destroy energy, but there are no longer the temperature differences needed to move it about.

    (When the fridge is refrigerating, it is actually transferring heat from inside the cabinet to the air in the kitchen; so colder food, but very slightly warmer room. That defrosting just moves it back.)

    I can see the etymology, but I think a population described by Definition 4 would be in utter disarray, disorder, inequality and chaos; not in quiescent entropy. Its "social energy" would not have disappeared but it would be under no control, liable to sloshing about in all directions, ,possibly violently, due to all the inequalities between different individuals and groups.
      January 28, 2021 6:26 PM MST
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  • 113301
    Read your last paragraph Durdle. That is exactly what is going on in America today. A QANON was elected to congress. She once advocated putting a bullet in the head of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Thank you for your reply m'dear and Happy Friday. SIGH.
      January 29, 2021 1:25 AM MST
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  • 3719
    I  can only hope for all your sakes that your country does haul itself out of the mire, and circles like Qanon fade away.
      January 29, 2021 2:26 PM MST
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  • 113301
    Sadly m'dear it is not very likely. Our Intelligence Agencies are currently working on the spokes of wheels. Which pol is attached to which hate group? Our Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the fear is from "the enemy within". Some pols have a DIRECT CONNECTION to specific hate groups. ALL REPUBLICANS of course. But what's sadly shocking is that these peculiar queer folkls were elected by the people! The people WANTED them and so they elected them. How extensive the queer peculiars are I do not know. But they have infiltrated our politics and are entwining themselves around everything. Like an octopus. Eventually will crush all within its grasp. I shall ask. SIGH. Thank you for your reply Durdle. This post was edited by RosieG at January 30, 2021 2:41 AM MST
      January 30, 2021 2:40 AM MST
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