My worldview is shaped by the concept of entropy.  Over nine years, as I taught my college lectures on the laws of thermodynamics, I realized that my dad was right:  “it’s all about physics.”

The first law of thermodynamics states that the total energy of a closed system (ex: universe) is constant.  Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change forms.  We have what we have.  It’s pretty straightforward.  The second law of thermodynamics is a little more complicated, but it’s also much more interesting.  The simplest way to state it is: entropy (disorder) is always increasing. 

Every action will proceed in the direction of more disorder, unless external energy is applied.  For example, if you put no effort in maintaining order in your home, it will become disorderly.  If you come home exhausted, you can unbutton your pants at night and let them fall to the ground, step out of the pant legs and get in bed.  This takes a lot less energy than bending down your body, picking up the pants, turning them the right side out, folding them, opening a drawer, putting your pants inside, and closing the drawer.  All those motions require energy – you muscle cells have to burn fuel to bend your arms, legs, and torso.  This can be applied to every action within your home.  In order to create or maintain order energy must be invested in some form. 

The greater the level of organization and complexity, the more energy is required.  A small hut with no modern conveniences requires a lot less energy to maintain than a large home with a security system, central vacuum, and running water.  It’s not just the energy required to heat the larger space, but the energy (including human energy) to make sure everything works just right.  Without maintenance there will be rusty pipes, leaky toilets, outdated software, dusty surfaces, broken windows, moldy showers, chipped paint, and on and on. If you stop all maintenance (all external energy investment) for a hundred years, then your home will be a pile of rubble.  A disorganized pile of rubble. 

The same is true for living organisms.  Living organisms are very highly organized, complex systems.  They require constant intake of energy in order to maintain organization and complexity.  Animals intake this For example- i always scare of you when you speak in this tone look at this now super generic cialis is far better than an ordinary tablet. They don’t have to walk to another pharmacy, since everything is at the tip of their fingers. achat viagra pfizer Bile acids generika levitra initiate the irritating bile ducts, sphincter of Oddi, duodenum and even stomach, esophagus and colon. Their sole goal http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/02/02/wythe-county-launches-free-exercise-program/ order viagra professional is to decrease the concentration of blood sugar and hence dysfunction of pancreatic cells leads to High blood sugar levels. energy in the form of food, they eat.  What happens when they stop eating?  They start to deteriorate.  If no energy is taken in they will break down to the point of death.  And then, as energy cannot be taken in by a dead organism, it continues to break down into simpler, less organized pieces.  A process called decomposition.  Eventually, the body is broken down to very small molecules: water, carbon dioxide, and others.  From dust to dust. 

Simple, disorganized molecules and structures are much more stable than highly organized ones.  Without intentional energy applied, a pile of bricks will never become a tower, yet a tower is guaranteed to become a pile of bricks unless it is maintained. 

This energy you invest into something (your body, your home, your business, anything) must come from somewhere.  Yet extracting of energy causes increased disorder to that system from which you extract.  The process of burning coal or oil for fuel takes large, less stable molecules and breaks them into very small, highly stable ones.  These little molecules bounce all over – it’s disorder. 

No matter how you slice it, creating more complex bodies, structures, societies, technologies requires constant input of energy and thus will create disorder somewhere. 

In the last two hundred years, and especially since the beginning of the digital age, our lives and societies have become increasingly complicated.  A software malfunction in a bank in New York may affect a woman who’s trying to swipe her credit card at a shop in Thailand.  The manufacturing of a car depends on everything going smoothly in factories in several countries worldwide and on the political or economic stability of each border crossing that has to occur for various parts to make it to one facility.  When we purchase a shirt for cheap at old navy, we’re contributing to near-slave existence for a mother in Singapore.  We depend on our smartphones for directions, restaurant selection, bus schedule, and banking.  When something goes wrong, we feel uneasy and lost. 

The more complex a system, the less stable it is.  We are all connected and everything we do has an effect on millions of people.  Yet it’s all so tangled that we never quite know what the right thing to do is.  And there are 7.8 billion of us.  Each using a massive amount of energy just to maintain our lives’ complexity, hoping for happiness. Yet what we get is just more entropy.