Second Law

You might be wondering why I titled this blog “Second Law”. Here is my explanation.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics is commonly known as the Law of Increased Entropy. "Entropy" is defined as a measure of unusable energy within a closed or isolated system (the universe for example). As usable energy decreases and unusable energy increases, "entropy" increases. Entropy is also a gauge of randomness or chaos within a closed system. As usable energy is irretrievably lost, disorganization, randomness and chaos increase.

Isn’t that the way that everything seems to go? Isn’t this a deep-seated rule of life? Doesn’t everything seem to constantly unravel and change? Life, death, and rebirth. I contend that this is not just a law related to physics. We are constantly living with this, because in the bigger picture, it exists everywhere. Our environment, our relationships, our careers, and our health eventually fall into a state of increasing entropy. From the moment that anything is conceived, it begins to fall apart.

At first glance, this sounds bad, but the truth is that there is a lot of opportunity associated with this phenomenon. Along with the eventual disentanglement of everything, comes the birth of new things. Nothing is ever lost, but instead it is reborn. When the great physicist Stephen Hawking proposed that anything that fell into a black hole was lost forever, it created quite the uproar in the scientific community, because this violated another fundamental law of physics. Eventually Mr. Hawking capitulated, and agreed that the information that fell into a black hole was indeed not lost. Understanding that there is a continuous cycle of death and rebirth, allows us to anticipate and manage change. If you can bring yourself to let go, and ride-the-wave of nature, you can see new opportunities in front of you more clearly. You can seize the day. You can enjoy the moment. You can appreciate the beauty. You can relate to the inevitability of change, and move forward, when others are simply stunned.