Thermodynamics and Tires of Life

THE SECOND LAW

ΔS > 0

The 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us that entropy of a system increases over time and of the universe as a whole. Entropy is the measure of disorder of the system. Disorder is a simple thing to understand.

THE TIRES OF LIFE

Our life has different aspects—work, social, marital, physical well-being, philosophical, etc.

Now to make sure the car of life moves forward properly, it is best if all tires rotate by nearly equal rotation. Although not totally true, but you get what I’m saying. To go far, we need to advance in each of these sectors.

INCREASING DISORDER

Now, as we age, the disorder in our life keeps increasing. Everyone has experienced this. As compared to 10 years ago—your life probably has a bit more disorder. Like explained in the 2nd law of thermodynamics, this disorder keeps on growing and growing.

After childhood comes adventure of teenage, then college—job—marriage—child—ageing parents—and so on. The number of factors out of your control keeps growing.

All the time mentally we remain the same. If something doesn’t change, we probably come up with not-so-helpful ways to deal with disorder. One of the most prominent being ignorance—drinking, drugs, social media. These will keep your mind off the truth.

APPLYING EXTERNAL FORCE

This is not really how we can lead a peaceful life. Something just keeps pounding inside. I feel the 2nd law has an answer to this. To reduce disorder, we need to apply external force. Now this force can take many forms:

• Physical well-being — Exercise & Eat well
• Work life — Diligent & Honest Work
• Social life — Dedicate yourself to this. Talk to friends. Spend some time.
• Philosophical/Psychological — Somehow I feel this is most important but gets the least importance. Meditation, Reading, writing are the key helpers in this.
• Marital — Something as simple as taking a walk.

CONCLUSION

In a similar way, we can assess the disorders around us and figure out best ways to reduce it. Reducing disorders by realigning your brain is what Viktor Frankl & Vipassana meditation talk about.

At least this is how I try to analyze stuff happening around myself to decide my next set of actions.