Not gonna lie. Resistance is constant. Change is hard.
re·sis·tance (r
-zs
t
ns)
n.
1. The act or an instance of resisting or the capacity to resist.
2. A constant force that tends to oppose or retard motion.
In other words, change is hard. Compounding our natural difficulty with change, is this other universal force:ENTROPY.
This says it all. Unfortunately, order tends to chaos.
en·tro·py (
ntr-p
) n. pl. en·tro·pies
1. The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.
2. Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society.
This is an idea I have, a theory if you will- of what's going on with our economy and politics right now. It's a collision of these two forces being acted out by people in power.
The counter to both is the addition of energy. Further energy from outside sources is needed to counteract resistance and entropy for change to occur.
And that, if nothing else, is what is represented by the #Occupy movement.
Weigh in, friends and foes, and feel free to add your thoughts!
I think entropy is a fascinating concept and very important for a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In our lives we’re fighting decay, and even if we’re not aware of it, this dynamic affects much of what we do.
If it’s inherent in (human) nature, it makes perfect sense we’ll see similar processes at work in the systems we’ve created, like our economies and political systems.
It’s true that we fight decay by adding energy (e.g. consuming other life forms as fuel in order to keep our bodies alive), but I think it’s important to do that wisely, with knowledge and awareness to direct our good intentions.
Just adding energy isn’t enough.
For instance, if I’d drink petrol to counter my decay, I’d waste not just my time, my life and my potential, but also energy (in the form of petrol) that could have been used for something else.
With that in mind, and with a lot of respect for the people who are speaking up and expressing their discontent, I can’t help thinking that blaming bankers, the financial system and ‘the wealthy’ is a bit easy.
Of course there is a lot of corruption and and we’re in a situation that cannot and should not continue, but we need to make sure we don’t use this protest as a way to find someone to blame and as an excuse to avoid looking at our own role and responsibility in the world we live in.
KC, you’re my hero for commenting on this. I got a resounding silence to this post and I was wondering what to conclude from it:
A) stupid theory
B) Your readers don’t like you venturing into political commentary
C) Too much commentary on this subject, we aren’t interested anymore
D) all the above.
But your comment is exactly the sort of dialogue I was hoping for. And your points are well taken. I do salute people doing “something” and the Occupy movement represents that. But, it may not be the smartest use of energy. Maybe they should be sitting around in think tank groups down there proposing and writing up alternative solutions, a lot of them are educated people who can come up with real solutions if they put their minds and pens to it. I’ve been selectively active on things I cared about through my life, and seen results by working with the systems in place to create change. I do think there;s something to be said for the physical presence in a place where it can’t be ignored.
My guess is that ‘a theory from physics’ in the title scared everyone off. 🙂
I had to reply because it’s an interesting theory and both entropy and the financial system are frequent topics at the dinner table here. (It’s what happens when you’re married to an engineer with an additional degree in banking & finance, which is a lot more fun than I make it sound here, I swear. 🙂 )
I completely agree with you on the importance of action where it can’t be ignored. Even if a particular kind of action is not constructive in itself or not directed at the core of the problem, it can still be a powerful signal and as such it can spark change.
Thanks for bringing up the topic! 🙂
Perhaps the subtlety (or is it the depth) of your argument has bemused me, Tobes, but you seem to be saying that Occupy Wall Street, etc is an organized form of energy. Good grief! OWS is entropy on display. Besides a sprinkling of ordinary kooks it seems to consist of silly college kids behaving irrationally in hopes of immanentizing their conception of the eschaton.*
Just the types, of course, who could be led down the garden path by slogans like, “Hope and Change” and “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Yes, and by promises of slowing the rise of the seas and quelling the flow of the tides. [As a sidebar, and with benefit of hindsight, wouldn’t it have helped the Repubs more to have dropped “Barack Hussein” (Blessed Handsome, for those who don’t savvy Arabic) and substituted “Barack Canute?”]
BTW, and further referencing entropy, I recently finished Winter by the great Len Deighton. Excellent book and a great German history lesson covering most of the first half of the 20th century. BUT it’s very lengthy, and at some point an editor or publisher or his wife or something/someone else said to Deighton, “It’s way too long, man!” Thus, in the last chapter he kills off most everyone, leaving several threads hanging – a tragedy that another thirty thou words would have prevented.
* Credit to Bill Buckley or someone at NR.
I never said OWS was “organized”–I only said it was ENERGY. this country’s populace is lethargic politically, just look at our voting participation statistics. OWS simply means, the People Are Not Happy and finally not happy enough they are showing up and sitting around about it.
Which in November, in New York, is saying something. “silly college students” grow up. And maybe even vote.
It’s a complex problem and I won’t begin to go address the bajillion reasons our country is in the state it’s in. I just saw some broad brushstroke parallels to science.
wow,
I really like your theory.
I see where you are coming from.
There is a lot going on in Kuwait right now and I could see both (resistance to current state affairs, and those who are content with a stagnant non progressive state).
SO thank you for these 2 terms