In preparing the previous post, I ran across a blog I’d never seen before — a neoreactionary organ called Let A Thousand Nations Bloom. (I had originally been about to use Mao’s line, “Let a thousand flowers bloom!”) I rather liked the look of the website, so I gave it a link at the bottom of the post.
Glancing around over there just now I came across something else I liked: a post called The Heat Death of Humanity: Progressivism as the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
This has been a theme of mine for some time now. (See, for example, my own post The Heat Death of the Universe, from March of last year. See also my look at the relation between social connectivity and the ideal-gas-laws, here.
In short, as my friend Bob Wyman has argued, a persuasive case can be made that maps good and evil onto the Second Law: all good consists of resisting or reversing entropy, while evil can be defined as that which encourages the entropic increase of decay, disorder, corruption, and decomposition. On this view, then, radical egalitarianism — which has been the animating force of the Left going back at least as far as the French Revolution, and which acts always to suppress and to level those gradients, differences, discriminations, inequalities, and local concentrations of order from which all of the world’s creative energy arises — is not only the natural enemy of liberty; it is objectively evil.
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I have speculated about the connection of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and life itself. Here are my three posts on the subject:
Post #1 in Series, “Entropy; Timshel; Life” (September 22, 2007)
Post #2 in Series, “‘Timshel entropy reduction’ redux” (October 16, 2007)
Post #3 in Series, “Timshel Negentropy Redux²” (March 16, 2008)
Constructive feedback in the comments sections are welcome.
https://what-if.xkcd.com/132/
(You’re a physicist Henry. I are a Simple.)
JK, I are also a simple. We simples should stand proudly together because we are a fine group of people who don’t worry too much, and well, we’re as happy as pigs in mud, content with our lot and lacking the imagination to want for anything better. Sounds good to me. Who wants to be a superior intellect who is never happy, always dissatisfied, and sometimes, but not always condescending ?
Malcolm, this comment in response to the last two posts. I accept that people are different and therefore, have different skills. Also that certain groups, or nationalities are generally, more intelligent than others. Your little concession to having a few people to “salt” the stew is funny. Obviously, you mean a small number. Are these, the creme de la creme, or are they the drones required to clean the bathrooms? Maybe a mixture of both? I ask only out of interest.
Musey?
An AIM9 was a missile used to be fired off an F-14 (Tom Cruise)
You’ll sweep up when you’re finished?
http://20committee.com/2014/11/17/lingering-okbomb-questions/
JK, I followed the link. I don’t think that it is relevant, but I do remember that particular bombing which killed so many, including a lot of children.
I’ll sweep up, when I have caused the mess.
I was hoping Musey, you’d come at me precisely like that. Excellent M’Lady … erm I’m thinkin’ you’d been honeymooned genius-like (ass you got to look wot it took sharin’ a rarin’) and you’re still, at least you’ve yet to ‘nounce in the same strait.
(Disabusing mineself me’n the “hooker” your husband-to-be-so-shortly paid her’n me how metaphorically you was about to suck.)
Nope. None of that is relevant. And it wouldn’t have matter’d otherwise.
And that’s the thing we two realize ultimately isn’t is Musey? We, you and I; no matter how we play we know despite – all the “wordys” you and I do is just that.
____________
I’m thinking Musey. The worst possible could’ve come between us was [is] the Internet.
Until maybe I comes up Antarctica.
I resemble that remark, JK.
:)
Wow Malcolm, this the second time in one day science-deficit me has come across the Second Law of Thermodynamics…… around the 5 minute mark in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1S2AFuwvVg
Musey, time for us simples, to borrow General Van Riper’s phrase, “cast our nets widely” here and do some more reading, methinks.
You might like this.
Musey,
People of all skills and natural aptitudes are equally important in an organic society. There are all sorts of things that need doing, from street-sweeping to advanced mathematics, and it is essential that those who are suited to each may find their respective niches, and may occupy them with dignity and the grateful respect of the society as a whole.
As far as an admixture of aliens is concerned — the “salt in the stew” — the point is that a little diversity enlivens, flavors, and enriches the civil society without straining or weakening it, but beyond a certain point high diversity begins to have an increasingly corrosive effect on social cohesion and public trust.
Malcolm, I wrote, but it’s gone now. We have a massive storm going on here.
We have a generator, so we can run the lights and a microwave. We can also pump some water and flush the toilets. The neighbours are all popping in.
Little old lady from next door, has been without light, or water for more than a day. She’s come over here now, so I should talk to her.
Libertybelle, you’re either a physicist, or you’re not. Most people aren’t. And reading a few articles isn’t going to explain the intricacies of thermodynamics, to those of us who don’t have a clue.
I do read, but I know my limitations. I am not a scientist, and I’m never gong to be one.
It’s quite important, I think, to be a good person, and that doesn’t need for you to be clever.
I was brought up in England, and I consider myself to be English,and sometimes, the sense of humour, the jokiness, and the way you speak can be misunderstood here in Australia.
All you need is a massive flood and the road blocked off by fallen trees, and we’re all friends together.
The couple over the road remarked on my husband’s posh pommy voice, and that they got the wrong impression. The lady next door thought we were so respectable, and lovely. She’s about eighty.
These guys living around us still have no power because they don’t have a generator. It’s like community spirit time, which means that my husband runs round all the houses and takes orders. Do you know how many kettles I have boiled today and how many cheese toasties I have made, for people I have never met?
I’m running a cafe here but I really don’t mind. It’s nice to meet everyone.
Yeah, well I’ve gone off topic. I’ll be baaaaack.
Actually, the general ideas of thermodynamics — and it becomes more and more apparent to me as time goes by that there are hardly any more important ideas in this world — aren’t that hard to understand. It is certainly worth the effort for any curious and intelligent person, because they explain so much, both directly and metaphorically.
Ideas are important Malcolm but we don’t all need to understand, nor can we all understand. It remains true that the world functions as it does, largely through the efforts of those who do the dirty work.
Haven’t I just made abundantly clear that I completely agree with that, Musey? You seem awfully prickly about this.
My only (completely non-normative) point was that the basic ideas of thermodynamics should be easily within the grasp of anyone who happens to be both intelligent and curious, and that I thought such people would find the effort rewarding.
Malcolm, I was tired and half my house has blown down. We have limited power, and we’re the fortunate few around here, so forgive me my snarkiness.
You say that the laws of thermodynamics are not hard to understand and, I admit, that I haven’t read anything on the subject, also that I’m slightly phobic of high falutin science.
I really do think that I would find these laws very difficult to understand. I prefer to read some escapist novel or listen to some music.
You can be prickly yourself, Malcolm. Some of your commenters are also quick to take umbrage and can dish it out, so sometimes it’s likely to be thrown back at you. Not from me anymore. I’ll leave you amongst your friends.
Musey, I am awfully sorry about your house. I’d be prickly too under such circumstances.
Tell you what: I’ll write a little post about the Second Law just to show you what I mean. Not even any math.
Forget it, Malcolm. We’re all okay and the roof will be fixed and unlike some of our unfortunate neighbours, we have insurance.
The power is still down here, so we are very thankful for the generator that we inherited with the house. We have water, and light, and a microwave, and a computer or two, and a fridge! Most of our neighbours have no light, but critically they are without water because we live on acreages and we have our own water tanks…which need pumps to work. It’s a nightmare for the families with young children who have no access to water, no way to wash, and no working toilets.(Sorry for the yucky detail) Our house is open to anybody but we only have cold water. We have only been off the grid for four days but life is normally so easy, and we are so cossetted, that it is difficult to cope when everything goes down.
I do apologize for my snappiness. I’m sure that you believe me when I say that I have a calm and sunny disposition! Now I’ll go and have a look at that Second Law. Plates may be thrown.
I’ve just realized that you haven’t yet written your little post about the Second Law.
Don’t worry I can wait, and I will read, and also let you know if I understood a word of it! It’s not looking good.
Oh, is this it? I feel very foolish because I’ve only just taken note of the title. I thought you meant that you were about to write something, rather than you just had. Thus, having no concept of the Second Law and having missed the title completely, I prove my point. I are a very simple, simple.
All is back to normal today, so the house looks less like a refugee centre. Sorry about the moan.
I hope the knee is getting better.
Hi Musey,
Steady there, lass. No, this wasn’t it. Just haven’t had much time to write over the past couple of days.