The Law of Entropy
Entropy is trying to tell us we will all fail.
As a science major in school, I have to pretend to understand and know how to explain a lot of confusing theories for why our world is the way it is. One of these theories is the Law of Entropy. It has taken me a very long time to even begin to fully understand this law of thermodynamics. I learned most recently about it in my Biomechanics class, where we discussed its significance in practice for sports and I began to get it. In order to maintain high performance, athletes must practice consistently. Without practice, their trade will begin to decline, much more rapidly than with practice. The reason for this can be explained using the Law of Entropy.
So, what exactly is entropy? Entropy, in my own words, is the result of an inevitable loss of energy within a system. For humans being the system, it occurs when consistent work is no longer put into a certain task, and disorder begins to arise. Entropy is the disorder/randomness that results from a loss of energy. Everything will eventually fail to entropy; it is the prefered state for most things. It is the undeniable outcome if one doesn’t maintain a steady flow of energy into whatever it is they are trying to accomplish, trying to prevent from disorder.
As humans, we strive to evolve. As we age, if done correctly, we should be learning from previous mistakes, growing in awareness, and increasing motivation towards our hopes and dreams. The reason why this is so much easier said than done has to do with entropy.
One way I now look at entropy is with motivation. Why exactly is it so hard to stay motivated to do things? Why after so long of neglecting something is it so much harder to reimplement it into your life? Entropy is the answer to these questions. Scientifically, everything (according to entropy) is supposed to lose energy. Everything is supposed to be devolving with the passing of time. This is why practicing your trade is so crucial to success.
I argue that we can defy this law of science if a person’s will to succeed and drive to improve is greater than their fear of failure and doubt. As humans, we want to be recognized as successful, accomplished beings. We want to wake up everyday feeling empowered to make today the best day we can. We want to feel proud of the lives we created when we look back however many years from now on our deathbeds. But for people who are making this happen, it’s not as easy as it may look to the outside eye.
It takes persistence. It takes courage. It takes a certain draw for life; a draw for success and fulfillment and consistent effort put into accomplishing goals.
It is because of this draw that people decide to not give in to the law of entropy. They decide to put energy into the things they know can make them happy. They decide to not sit on their asses all day, daydreaming about a life they wish they had, and put in effort to get themselves there instead.
Entropy can lead us to believe that the loss of energy is inevitable. I’m here to argue there is a way to overcome it, through hard work and motivation. Find the things that make you happy, and decide to keep showing up everyday to do them. The more you practice at something, the more energy you will be putting into your system and the less entropy will result. We all want our systems to have low chaos and disorder, but it doesn’t come easy. You have to be brave to overcome fear. You have to be motivated to not be unmotivated. You have to put in energy to avoid losing energy. You have to practice to avoid losing your trade. And with more practice, the easier your daily happiness will result.
