Entropy in the Kitchen

I do go on about entropy, don't I. Entropy is an erudite term that means something like disorder or chaos. The opposite of entropy is order, or if you want to sound like a professor, call it syntropy or negentropy. 

According to thermodynamics, whenever work is done (like scrubbing the porridge pot), the net chaos of the universe increases. When chaos increases, complex things are broken into simple bits (porridge bits scrubbed off the pot), and/or things get muddled (the kitchen drain gets plugged), and/or stuff gets hot (stuff like the guy plunging the drain) and/or heat is radiated from a hot object (phew). 

The cost of putting things in order is even more chaos than you started with (now I call the plumber).  The professor says that doing work to increase syntropy causes an even larger increase in entropy. Simply put, when we do work making things the way we want them, we must get rid of the resultant chaos through regeneration of materials and radiation of heat into space, or else we wind up in a hot mess. 

That is not an opinion. It is what we owe the plumber. Or you could just forget the clogged drain, leave the porridge stuck in the pot and add it to breakfast tomorrow. Let's see how that works.

Speaking of tomorrow. We have been busily accumulating a hot mess here on planet Earth. We have interfered with regeneration by depleting biomass and accelerating the extinction of species. We have reduced the radiation of heat into space by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuel is a cheap way to put our lives in order for awhile, and we can delay paying the entropy bill. But not forever. Now the hot mess is coming and we have to pay what we owe today or fail to pay an impossible debt tomorrow. That's not just an opinion.

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P.S. If you want my opinion: entropy is how God gets things done; deal with it.

While I write this, I'm waiting for the plumber to call back.

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P.P.S. He's coming tomorrow morning. Meanwhile there's entropy here. We're washing pots in the laundry tub.

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P.P.P.S. It's tomorrow morning. The plumber came. Syntropy. He will send the bill by email because of the postal strike. You always have to pay, sooner or later; but it's worth it. Now the pots can go into the dishwasher where they belong. 

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P.P.P.P.S. In my opinion, we should not go extinct. We should just pay what we owe.

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Doomsday Glacier: Just Have a Think, Dec 1, 2024

Industry Hijacks Climate and Biodiversity Summits: David Suzuki Foundation, Dec 5, 2024

Renewable Energy Domination: Just Have a Think, Dec 8, 2024

Canada's Plan to Slash Emissions: Jordan Ormstead, The Canadian Press, Dec 12, 2024