a thought about scrambled eggs

(originally posted  12/13/2021 with the disclaimer “not a story per se as much as an idle thought”)

I watched this show on the connection between time and entropy and it got me to thinking. The basic idea of the show was that on a quantum level, there is no reason that time has to only move forward. It can move backwards just as easily. It’s only in the macro that time can only move from the past to the future through the present.

The show then went on to discuss how this might be connected to entropy, defined as the measure of the number of possible arrangements the atoms in a system can have, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that the state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time.

It was the example they used of a refrigerator that got the aforementioned thinking started. Basically the inside of the refrigerator is lowering the temperature of the interior, meaning that the molecules are moving slower, thus lowering the entropy. However, the energy needed to run the compressor raises the entropy more than cooling the interior lowers it so overall the entropy of the unit increases.

I immediately wondered if this explains why even though meditation or mindfulness might calm the chaos between our ears, outside forces will always make sure that the entropy in our lives increases. Perhaps consciousness cannot escape the Second Law of Thermodynamics in the same way that particles can’t. The older we get, the more information is needed to describe us and our lives. Which is why we can only move forward in time.

What’s my point?

Well, before I say it you might want to think about if you want to hear it. Typically points bring order and any time you bring order there needs to be some sort of chaos to offset it.

Are you willing to endure the seemingly-inevitable consequences?

You can’t unscramble an egg.

My point is that perhaps as conscious entities, we are our own system. With every place we go, with every person we meet, we increase the disorder in our lives. Therefore we feel the need to bring order to our lives, but the more we do the more chaos the universe will send our way to keep us perpetually in the red.

Looking objectively at it though, it still seems like we’re part of a singular system. i.e. some people get a lot of chaos and some people skate by.

i.e. that monk living in a monastery is making life much harder for some poor guy in Texarkana.

In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.

-Carl Jung