Entropy and Extropy Across Domains

Entropy is a concept used in two main areas of physics: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Entropy has various definitions in different areas. For example, it could refer to energy that is not present, information that is lost, a movement toward homogeneity or loss of difference, or a shifting toward randomness. In common sense terms, entropy can be considered synonymous with fragmentation or disintegration in a system. Imagine drinking a cold glass of ice water on a hot summer day. Within little time, the ice begins to melt due to the heat. This is entropy.

Extropy is the opposite of entropy. Extropy refers to the self-organization that takes place within a system. This is when complexity, order, and coherence build and grow. Extropy can be equated with our common terms generation and integration. Imagine a flock of birds flying across the sky. No single bird coordinates or even has any awareness of the flock as a whole. But the intelligent behavior of all the individual birds comes together to create a flock that hasemergent properties. When we speak of emergence, we are referring to the classic phrase that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When we put everything together, we get something completely new and novel, which we never had before with only the separate parts.

These two concepts, of entropy and extropy, play out in many areas of the universe. From cosmology to the human mind and society, the dynamic between disintegration and reintegration are constantly at work.

Areas and fields where entropy/extropy, part/whole, fragmentation/integration ideas occur:

Physics/Cosmology: The Big Bang and subsequent evolution of the physical universe have involved processes of fragmentation and integration that have intertwined and led to the state of nature that exists now. From an infinitely dense core of energy that exploded and expanded, the cooling of the universe over time witnessed a level of growing complexity that formed matter itself.

Chemistry: The diversity of chemical reality that is present today is the product of the entropy/extropy and fragmentation/integration of various forms of matter. The many chemical elements that exist have been formed by processes of the ever-growing integration, disintegration, and reintegration of atoms and molecules. Our understanding of these chemical processes have reached a point where some of our newly discovered chemical elements have actually been made by humans.

Biology: The processes of biological evolution and natural selection have manifested higher levels of complexity in the form of organisms that are based upon the systems of chemistry. The principals of genetics, physiology, and anatomy bridge the gap between these levels of chemistry and biology. Increasing intricacy of these systems is witnessed in the structure and function of biological organisms. Yet, this integration comes with the growing presence of potential entropy in the form of disease and death. Hence, biological systems clearly embody the dual processes of entropy and extropy.

Neuroscience: The human brain is the most complex object in the physical universe. As a biochemical system, it is the material substrate of the human mind. The brain is composed of many neural systems that have differing structures, functions, and interactions with each other. These systems are regularly undergoing synaptic pruning (connections are lost), synaptogenesis (connections are made), cell death (neurons die), and neurogenesis (new neurons are created). It is evident that these processes are ones of entropy and extropy in the brain.

Psychology: The human mind is at the interface of the brain/body and the environmental and social inputs that are processed via sense perception. Because of its position at this nexus, the mind is a dynamical system that constantly changes because of a multitude of factors. Processes of entropy and extropy are prevalent in the mind and various theorists in the psychological tradition have proposed frameworks for understanding these processes.

Social Science: Human society is a complex system with cultural, political, economic, biological, and environmental sub-systems. A basic feature of human social interaction and social systems is the dual presence of conflict and cooperation. Social systems are continually being dismantled and rebuilt, fragmenting and integrating. These processes happen from the level of two individuals and their changing relationship, all the way to the level of world civilizations over historical time.

As we can see, the processes of entropy/extropy, part/whole, fragmentation/integration take place across all levels of existence. Figure 1A displays some of the terms from different levels that are synonymous with fragmentation and integration: