The Law of Entropy
- Thread starter andrasnm
- Start date
T-DOGG, I had this perfectly under control. I was just about to tell our innumerists to think about how long a diamond, the paradigm of perfect order in a closed system, will take to deteriorate into total disorder. Less time than it will take for a liberal arts major to understand thermo.
Forgive me. I didn't mean to steal your...thunder.
...where social studies majors fear to tread.
Really, now. Philosophers have for years attempted to draw a parallel between negative and positive entropy and good and evil.
No algorithm, simply a simile or analogy.
Like describing trading as a tug of war with the knot in the middle of a river, with each side struggling not to be pulled under water.
Like any analogy, to benefit from it you must think outside the box.
However, entropy and thermodynamics are essentially zero-sum enterprises.
Trading isn't.
Really, now. Philosophers have for years attempted to draw a parallel between negative and positive entropy and good and evil.
No algorithm, simply a simile or analogy.
Like describing trading as a tug of war with the knot in the middle of a river, with each side struggling not to be pulled under water.
Like any analogy, to benefit from it you must think outside the box.
However, entropy and thermodynamics are essentially zero-sum enterprises.
Trading isn't.
game theory is a good framework for studying human behavior. "The Evolution of Cooperation" by Robert Axelrod is a good read
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...f=pd_bbs_1/104-6399438-6523147?_encoding=UTF8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...f=pd_bbs_1/104-6399438-6523147?_encoding=UTF8
The author of the article misunderstood the concept. The amount of energy of a closed system doesn't change. The energy is transformed from one form to another form. The entropy of the system is growing because the energy after the change is always of lower 'quality' in comparison to the energy before the change.
I may cause a bit of friction here, but does anyone else happen to think that the second law of thermodynamics is a crock of shit.
I mean, theoretically the concept of a closed system is simple, but in reality, there is no such thing as a close system.
Every system within the universe is open to other systems within the universe, constantly sharing energy. The universe is the only closed system. right?
Yet the energy within the universe is incomprehensibly massive.
The second law of thermodynamics was a good idea at the time but it's way past its used by date.
The only reason it hasn't been replaced yet is because no-one has yet to come up with anything more elegant.
There are plenty of real life examples of
events that defy the second law of thermodynamics. Like the 600 odd successful cold fusion experiments conducted since 1989.
Closed system - excess energy. Not possible apparently. All the result of scientific error. Yeah right.
Sorry. Didn't mean to get too deep.
Runningbear
I mean, theoretically the concept of a closed system is simple, but in reality, there is no such thing as a close system.
Every system within the universe is open to other systems within the universe, constantly sharing energy. The universe is the only closed system. right?
Yet the energy within the universe is incomprehensibly massive.
The second law of thermodynamics was a good idea at the time but it's way past its used by date.
The only reason it hasn't been replaced yet is because no-one has yet to come up with anything more elegant.
There are plenty of real life examples of
events that defy the second law of thermodynamics. Like the 600 odd successful cold fusion experiments conducted since 1989.
Closed system - excess energy. Not possible apparently. All the result of scientific error. Yeah right.
Sorry. Didn't mean to get too deep.
Runningbear
nitro