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Entropy
Entropy
Entropy
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Overview

When applied broadly, an understanding of Entropy and The Second Law of Thermodynamics helps explain the passa ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam si propter voluptatem, quae est ista laus, quae possit e macello peti? Sin tantum modo ad indicia veteris memoriae cognoscenda, curiosorum. Scaevola tribunus plebis ferret ad plebem vellentne de ea re quaeri. Hoc est dicere: Non reprehenderem asotos, si non essent asoti.

Hic quoque suus est de summoque bono dissentiens dici vere Peripateticus non potest. Cur iustitia laudatur? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Haec para/doca illi, nos admirabilia dicamus. Tu autem negas fortem esse quemquam posse, qui dolorem malum putet.

Hoc sic expositum dissimile est superiori. Sed quoniam et advesperascit et mihi ad villam revertendum est, nunc quidem hactenus; Cur id non ita fit? Ex quo, id quod omnes expetunt, beate vivendi ratio inveniri et comparari potest. Sin laboramus, quis est, qui alienae modum statuat industriae? Neque solum ea communia, verum etiam paria esse dixerunt.

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Actionable Takeaways
  • View everything as organised energy, that is decaying and dispersing. 

Viewing ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed emolumenta communia esse dicuntur, recte autem facta et peccata non habentur communia. -, sed ut hoc iudicaremus, non esse in iis partem maximam positam beate aut secus vivendi. Memini vero, inquam; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Hunc ipsum Zenonis aiunt esse finem declarantem illud, quod a te dictum est, convenienter naturae vivere. An tu me de L. Huius, Lyco, oratione locuples, rebus ipsis ielunior. Sed haec quidem liberius ab eo dicuntur et saepius. Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat. Nam illud vehementer repugnat, eundem beatum esse et multis malis oppressum.

Omnia contraria, quos etiam insanos esse vultis. Duo enim genera quae erant, fecit tria. Ad corpus diceres pertinere-, sed ea, quae dixi, ad corpusne refers? Quae si potest singula consolando levare, universa quo modo sustinebit? Sed ne, dum huic obsequor, vobis molestus sim. Quia dolori non voluptas contraria est, sed doloris privatio. Nec enim, dum metuit, iustus est, et certe, si metuere destiterit, non erit; Nondum autem explanatum satis, erat, quid maxime natura vellet. Iam id ipsum absurdum, maximum malum neglegi. Hosne igitur laudas et hanc eorum, inquam, sententiam sequi nos censes oportere?

Multa sunt dicta ab antiquis de contemnendis ac despiciendis rebus humanis; Luxuriam non reprehendit, modo sit vacua infinita cupiditate et timore. Laboro autem non sine causa; Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae. Nam ante Aristippus, et ille melius. Non minor, inquit, voluptas percipitur ex vilissimis rebus quam ex pretiosissimis. Iubet igitur nos Pythius Apollo noscere nosmet ipsos. An potest, inquit ille, quicquam esse suavius quam nihil dolere? Sunt enim prima elementa naturae, quibus auctis vírtutis quasi germen efficitur. Utinam quidem dicerent alium alio beatiorem! Iam ruinas videres.

Limitations

From a scientific point of view, there are some supposed challenges to The Second Law from quantum physics — but to be honest, we still don’t understand those challenges and the associated ongoing debate, which you can explore more in this 2017 Scientific American article

In truth, we find a more interesting exploration of limitations via how you might use these models as a guide in your broader work and life. From that perspective, you might consider how the application of this model assumes that things decay, rather than change. That is, when applied to businesses, products, or relationships, rather than assuming decay, it might be more useful to assume change — that those elements will continue to evolve and shift which might or might not result in greater disorder. Though the pull towards disorder is still a compelling explanation for countless situations. 

In Practice

The steam engine. 

It’s no coincidence that The Laws of Thermodynamics arose during the Industrial Revolution and the birth of the steam engine. The steam engine, at a basic level, has three components — a hot energy source (steam); a device that converts that heat energy into movement (pistons); and a vent that extracts energy that hasn’t been used as heat (a cold sink). 

The need for the cold sink demonstrated that when heat was converted to movement, some of the heat was transferred into the system’s surroundings. This was an indicator that for energy to move from a high-temperature body to a low body one that work, or additional energy, was required. 

The ice swan. 

Imagine an ice sculpture of a swan sitting in an ocean. The sculpture might have incredible detail and artistry, meanwhile, the water around it has undefinable depths. Which do you think has more Entropy

If you answered with the ocean, you’d be right. The ice sculpture is an ordered and defined object in comparison to the dispersed, random, and dare we say ‘disordered’ state of the water molecules in the ocean. The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that, without intervention, there is a greater probability that water molecules will organise themselves in the form of an ocean than that of an ice sculpted swan as a result. 

Your bedroom.

A common analogy to explain Entropy is that of your messy bedroom. There are more ways your bedroom can be messy, than ways it could be clean and ordered. In that sense, your messy bedroom has high Entropy, and the Second Law would imply that it will tend towards that state if left unchecked. 

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Origins & Resources

As described in the In Practice section, the field of Thermodynamics was born from the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the steam engine. As with all such ideas, there were many contributors to the field, but French physicist Sadi Carnot was certainly seen as one of the leading thinkers in the space. His discussion of ‘thermodynamic efficiency’ was far ahead of its time. 

Rudolf Clausius, working independently in the early 1850s, posited similar ideas after examining how heat from a heated body would flow to one of a lower temperature. He laid the groundwork for the Second Law by explaining: “heat does not pass from a body at low temperature to one at high temperature without an accompanying change elsewhere.”

The origins of these models are generally attributed to Clausius, though it could be rightly argued that Carnot had just as much, if not more, right to claim the mantle.

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