The next time you consider killing yourself, think of entropy — and how special you are
Entropy is a measure of the randomness of a system. There are various ways that you can mix together butter, sugar, flour and eggs in a bowl. These are high entropy states since the randomness is high. However, heating them at the right temperature in the right quantities in an oven creates a cookie. That’s a low entropy state since the randomness is low.
The natural progress of Entropy is fundamental to our universe… and you defy it every day.
The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a closed system always increases. The universe at its beginning was at the lowest state of entropy, squeezed into a small point. Since the big bang, entropy has been increasing as the second law predicts. Except on earth.
Life by its complexity, defies the natural progression of Entropy. The complexity of life is not decreasing. From single celled organisms centuries ago, we now have multi-cellular organisms capable of conscious thought. As the universe expands and decays, life somehow thrives.
Einstein said this of the second law,
“It is the only physical theory of universal content, which I am convinced, that within the framework of applicability of its basic concepts will never be overthrown.”
If entropy is bound to increase, how are we alive?
Life does not end up violating the second law of thermodynamics. This is because the Earth is not a closed system. The Earth receives energy from the Sun — around 3.8 x 10^24 Joules of Energy. When this energy flows into a larger reservoir like the ocean, complexity increases. Plants absorb only around 0.1% of this energy from the sun. Animals then consume these plants and use the energy stored inside to reverse entropy and increase complexity. The Sun indirectly helps us reverse entropy.
The Earth, the Sun, Stars and Galaxies are examples of very rare pockets of order in a universe descending into randomness. As far as we know, the Earth is the only place where energy from a star has enabled life to emerge and reverse entropy within our little island. We are also blessed to be conscious at this time. In the future, the universe will expand faster than the speed of light and no information from outside our solar system will ever be able to reach us. When we look at the night sky in the future, we will only see darkness and not the wonder of the universe we see today.
This is why when the pressures of society and life drives me down a dark path, I can never ever contemplate taking my life. It would be a disrespect to the amount of energy put in by the gigantic fusion reactor called the Sun to turn stardust into me. You and me — we’re a challenge to the laws of physics. We’re special just by being human because there is nowhere else in the Universe where entropy has been reversed to produce something like us.
In my darkest times, I wish I never existed in the first place, but now that I do, I have a debt to repay to the universe.
I’m pushing myself to write to better structure my thoughts and to engage with like-minded people. Liked what you read? Leave a clap and let me know what you think in the comments.
