Entro-what? Entropy! For all you who have taken a chemistry or physics class before, I’m sure this word is very familiar. For those of you who haven’t, here’s a mini science lesson.
entropy /en truh pee/ (noun): a thermodynamic function that describes the randomness and disorder of molecules based on the number of different arrangements available to them in a given system or reaction (Williams, study.com)
Say what? Let’s simplify this a bit. Entropy is a measure of disorder. Seems simple enough right? All it really is is a lack of order. Think entropy=messy. One of the principles you learn about, be it in a chemistry or physics class, is that the universe tends to proceed towards the most entropically favorable state. Otherwise said, life tends to favor disorder. You might be thinking to yourself, well that seems counterintuitive? Haven’t we evolved as intelligent beings that have it all organized, ordered, and figured out? Yeah, not quite.
Let’s use another analogy here. Ever heard of the hydrophobic effect? It’s way easier to understand than you may think, so non-science people, bear with me. The hydrophobic effect occurs when you put hydrophobic or “water-fearing” molecules in water (A.K.A. oil). When you do so, the hydrophobic molecules tend to aggregate. But it’s not really because all the scaredy-cat hydrophobic molecules like each other. They aggregate because of the rebellious water molecules. Water doesn’t want to deal with something that gives it a hard time. Sound familiar? Water would rather do the LEAST amount of work possible in order to avoid dealing with these timid hydrophobic molecules. Sound even more familiar? So what water does, is it forms a cage around them with as few water molecules as possible so that more of the water is free to go around and play elsewhere. This allows for a higher state of entropy—a higher state of disorder in the system.
OK crazy science lady, now why are you explaining this to us?
Well let’s just analyze this a bit. Water (like us) is trying to do everything it can to pack the fearful hydrophobic molecules as tightly as possible so that it doesn't have to deal with the trouble and it can go around elsewhere and live a messier life (like us). Like the water molecules, we tend to be messy— messy rooms, messy agendas, messy brains. Like the hydrophobic effect, we naturally favor entropy.
Why do we do that? Why do we tend to naturally favor a state of disorder? For some reason, everyone tends to complicate a lot of things— if you’re sitting there now thinking to yourself, “oh well not me, I don't complicate things”… yes, I’m talking to you. We all overanalyze situations, thinking what someone may say or do before it ever happens, only to figure out that it was never as bad as we thought. We like to assume what other people are thinking, worried that they’re judging us or talking bad about us when really, everyone is just worried about themselves. When girls talk about boys, they always read into every word and every action the boy said or did, thinking he meant one thing when he most likely meant the complete opposite. Everyone always says “my life is such a mess” but we don’t always see people making an effort to make a change toward order. We don’t like dealing with our thoughts, our messy lives—our hydrophobic enemies that give us a hard time. So we find distractions. We float about interacting with as much as possible around us in order to avoid putting our lives in order. But why? Well because that takes hard work! It takes ENERGY.
entropy /en truh pee/ (noun): a measure of the amount of energy which is unavailable to do work (Nave, hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu)
Maybe now this definition will make more sense to you. “The amount of energy that is UNAVAILABLE to do work”. When you don’t have any energy available to do work, naturally you will proceed toward a state of disorder— your room will get messier, you won’t workout, you won’t do your homework. If we don’t expend energy, we won’t get any order in our lives. We want to have clear heads and put-together lives, but many people don’t see just how much energy that takes to achieve. If you feel like your brain is scattered, you can’t just avoid the situation altogether and hope is dissipates— you have to face it head on. This world can be scary, and there are a lot of hard questions out there that we like to avoid. I think it is really important that we all expend the energy to figure out how we feel about what's going on around us, and more importantly what's going on inside of us. Why do we feel messy? Why are we proceeding toward the state of disorder? Maybe there is something negative hanging over your head you’ve been waiting to face. Maybe you haven’t spent enough time with yourself. Whatever it may be, there is always something naturally pulling us toward feeling disordered. We should all realize that this may be naturally favored, but it’s not favorable.
We should expend the energy to make order in our heads and in our lives. We should search for the root of our problems or fears, and expend the energy to uproot them. We should read that book we've been wanting to read, because it’s most likely going to teach us a new lesson. We should proceed toward the state of the most order. We don’t need to complicate our lives—we don’t need to make things harder for ourselves than they already are. We don't need to partake in the hydrophobic effect. We should go against the favored process of higher entropy, and instead expend the energy to find a peaceful state of mind and have a life so full of energy that we are proud to live it.
References
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/seclaw.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/entropy-in-chemistry-definition-lesson.html
