Save to My Latticework unsave

Entropy
Entropy
Entropy
save0 saved view9.6K views
Share this with your network
Share this with your network
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. Apparet statim, quae sint officia, quae actiones. Nec vero hoc oratione solum, sed multo magis vita et factis et moribus comprobavit. Ut aliquid scire se gaudeant? Et non ex maxima parte de tota iudicabis? Cur igitur, cum de re conveniat, non malumus usitate loqui? Pollicetur certe. Respondent extrema primis, media utrisque, omnia omnibus. Quicquid enim a sapientia proficiscitur, id continuo debet expletum esse omnibus suis partibus; Duo Reges: constructio interrete.

Quid ergo attinet dicere: Nihil haberem, quod reprehenderem, si finitas cupiditates haberent? Atqui reperies, inquit, in hoc quidem pertinacem; Quo modo autem philosophus loquitur? Sed fortuna fortis; Non igitur bene. Quod autem magnum dolorem brevem, longinquum levem esse dicitis, id non intellego quale sit. Non est enim vitium in oratione solum, sed etiam in moribus. Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat.

Tamen a proposito, inquam, aberramus. An ea, quae per vinitorem antea consequebatur, per se ipsa curabit? Duo enim genera quae erant, fecit tria. Est, ut dicis, inquam. Vide igitur ne non debeas verbis nostris uti, sententiis tuis. Cum autem negant ea quicquam ad beatam vitam pertinere, rursus naturam relinquunt. Cur igitur easdem res, inquam, Peripateticis dicentibus verbum nullum est, quod non intellegatur? Atqui reperies, inquit, in hoc quidem pertinacem; Uterque enim summo bono fruitur, id est voluptate. Qua ex cognitione facilior facta est investigatio rerum occultissimarum.

Share this model with your network to be smarter, faster, together!
Actionable Takeaways
  • View everything as organised energy, that is decaying and dispersing. 

Viewing ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aut, Pylades cum sis, dices te esse Orestem, ut moriare pro amico? Illa tamen simplicia, vestra versuta. An haec ab eo non dicuntur? Quippe: habes enim a rhetoribus;

Quid enim est a Chrysippo praetermissum in Stoicis? Eam si varietatem diceres, intellegerem, ut etiam non dicente te intellego;

Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quid, de quo nulla dissensio est? Sic, et quidem diligentius saepiusque ista loquemur inter nos agemusque communiter. Ergo in utroque exercebantur, eaque disciplina effecit tantam illorum utroque in genere dicendi copiam. Idem iste, inquam, de voluptate quid sentit? Non dolere, inquam, istud quam vim habeat postea videro; Facile est hoc cernere in primis puerorum aetatulis. Si enim ad populum me vocas, eum.

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. 

Build your latticework
This model will help you to:

,

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.

My Notes

    Nothing here yet. Join ModelThinkers and login to be the first to comment.
Already a ModelThinkers member? Please log in here.

Oops, That’s Members’ Only!

Fortunately, it only costs US$5/month to Join ModelThinkers and access everything so that you can rapidly discover, learn, and apply the world’s most powerful ideas.

ModelThinkers membership at a glance:

Small mark
UNLOCK EVERYTHING
Access all mental models and premium content.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR LATTICEWORK
Save models to your personal list.
Small mark
QUICKLY MEMORISE MODELS
Use our Learn function to embed models to memory
Small mark
PERSONALISE MODELS
Add your own notes and reminders.
Small mark
BUILD YOUR ‘EXTERNAL BRAIN’
Discover a new idea? Capture it by adding a new model.
Small mark
JOIN THE MT COMMUNITY
Rate models, comment and access exclusive events.

“Yeah, we hate pop ups too. But we wanted to let you know that, with ModelThinkers, we’re making it easier for you to adapt, innovate and create value. We hope you’ll join us and the growing community of ModelThinkers today.”

Arun Pradhan & Shai Desai
CoFounders, ModelThinkers.

You Might Also Like:

- Actionable summaries of the world's most powerful ideas.