Entropy and Ridiculousness

In physics

Entropy is the quantification of the amount of disorder in a system. Entropy tends to increase with time, that is everything tends towards a greater state of disorder. To prevent this energy is required to reduce the disorder. Think of a spray can – pressing the button blasts some deoderant or whatever out of the nozzle, turning it into an aerosol. What was once contained inside a nice cylinder shaped container quickly disperses into the surrounding air. Good luck trying to get it back into the can. As the contents escape they take a bit of energy with them, this is why the nozzle, and maybe the whole can, will feel a little cooler. Energy has been removed from the system as entropy increased. This same principal is how most refrigeration systems work except energy is put back in during the compression stage of the cycle. You know, that bit where the fridge starts making a humming noise? Well that’s the compressor returning the refrigerant into a more ordered state. This requires energy and it generates heat so there’s a great big radiator thing at the back to the fridge chucking the heat out into the surrounding environment while the inside of the fridge keeps your beer cold.

Science has some equations to explain all of this. Without going into more detail introducing concepts such as enthalpy,  pressure, temperature and volume (i.e. the amount of space, not how loud your music is) and whatnot let’s just say as disorder increases the amount of ‘free’ energy (i.e. energy that can be converted into some kind of work) decreases. [look up Gibbs Free Energy; entropy; enthalpy for more information – this isn’t a science workshop]

This rambling introduction is just another way of saying the less ordered, or more chaotic, something is the less energy there is available to do something productive. “You mean in things like chemistry and mechanics and stuff like that?” I hear you say. Well, yes, that is where it has been applied to deliver to you the air conditioning in the office, the cold beer you enjoy, the ice in your mojitos. It’s also used to stop your local chemical plant from blowing up and depositing toxic fumes in the air you breath, stopping your car catching on fire when you do things like accelerate or brake (that heat has to go somewhere) and other stuff I can’t think of right now. Scientists and engineers use this information all of the time. Well some do, when they’re sciencing and engineering stuff anyway.

Can we apply the laws of entropy as related to thermodynamics to other things in otherdynamics?

In stupidity

I’m not quite sure if stupidity is a science in itself rather than just a subjective construct. Certain types of comedy, for example, may seem genius to some and stupid to others. I’ve used ridiculousness in the title because it conjures a different sense of stupidity. It is something absurd, it is something unreasonable, it is something that should just not be. I guess unreasonable is the best term but I’m going to use ridiculous because I’m unreasonable.

‘Ridiculous’ is like entropy. The more chaotic something becomes the more ridiculous it is. It deviates from the acceptable norms we expect. It can be stupid but stupid can also be haha! funny. I guess ridiculous can also be funny but let’s not beat about the bush. The point I’m trying to make is the more ridiculous something becomes the more energy that is required to return it back to its original state. The trouble is the ridiculousness is removing the energy like the spray can blasting its contents all over the place. Not only do we spend energy on trying to stop the ridiculousness, we have to spend energy on getting the ridiculousness back into the can.

The ‘scientists’ and ‘engineers’ of misinformation have weaponised ridiculousness to such an extent that it has become the new normal. Entropy, enthalpy and all of those wonderful physical things are pretty much fixed on a set of rules that satisfy our physical world. Even these, however, are being challenged by ridiculousness. As is actual humanity. Empathy is being thrown away because the ‘scientists’ and ‘engineers’ of ridiculousness do not believe it is a factor. Proper science and engineering is being dismissed. Chaos now threatens our information and knowledge. The spray can of disinformation is on full blast.

The spray can

The spray can is a closed system. It has a fixed volume. It has a particular internal pressure. That pressure decreases each time the nozzle is pressed. Its contents affect the immediate environment but its ability diminishes. Unless it is recharged it will finally be run out and be cast into the recycling pile. For it to work some things have to be true:

• Someone has to make the can
• Someone has to fill the can
• Someone has to push the nozzle

Accountability

Like it or not we need to take accountability for our actions and/or our words. There’s all this bullshit about free speech. Speaking freely might be a value to many but speaking responsibly is, well a responsibility. If you pour bleach into your infant’s arsehole to prevent autism or whatever then you should be responsible for your actions. If you told someone to pour bleach up their infant’s arsehole then you, too, should be held accountable for giving bad information. If you run a platform where people tell other people to pour bleach into infants’ arseholes – guess what? You’re also responsible and should be held accountable.

If you push the nozzle, if you fill the can, if you make the can, you are just as responsible for causing harm as everyone else. If you fill a can with ‘burn hotels housing asylum seekers’ and someone presses that nozzle that tries to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers then you are just as responsible as the person who pressed the nozzle. You put energy into filling the can, that energy was released and now requires a lot more energy to reverse the damage, if it indeed can be. If you made the can, or are reponsible for the can’s existence, then perhaps you should be more careful about who you allow to fill that can.

Conclusion

• Certain proponents of free speech also like to support the idea of individual responsibilites. Those responsibilites must come with accountability for any consequences that arise from the expression of free speech.
• Moderation of speech is not censorship if that speech is harmful.
• Prevent the nozzle pusher; prevent the can filler; prevent the can provider

We need to conserve our collective energies to prevent the nozzle being pressed. If we can do we need to prevent the can being filled in the first place. I fear our battle against the can provider is a futile one but if there’s a way then get in it and prevent. Otherwise the effort of putting the bollocks back in the can requires a lot more energy than most of us can muster.