Dear Reader,

The title of this post is a portmanteau of the words Anthropos and Entropy.

Entropy is a concept born inside the realm of physics, thermodynamics in particular. It is the principle according to which every closed system tends to reach the state of maximum disorder. It explains why if you leave something by itself, it inevitably gets ruined. Everything, in the end, is f*cked.

It is such a powerful and universal tenet that it is said that in science you can try to question and subvert every theory, from electromagnetism to gravity; still, if your theory goes against the principle of entropy, then it is absolutely doomed!

Anthropos means Human, in Greek. It is used as a prefix for “related to human beings”, as in “anthropomorphic”, “anthropocentric” and the likes.

A word of caution, before proceeding: this post is of the “just thinking out loud” kind, so it starts unplanned and it may end up going round in circles. The Reader is warned!

So, what does have entropy in common with human beings? At first, try reasoning about this: if the disorder is going up everywhere in the universe, how is it possible that Life can evolve? How is it possible for us to put into work and continuously operate more and more complex machines, like CPUs? Why don’t we turn into a messy pool of bones and amino acids shortly after our birth?

Because it is not accurate to say that disorder grows in the universe everywhere: locally (i.e. in a small region of space) it can decrease as well. That is the case, for example, of Life emerging from the primordial soup. The molecules of the “soup”, initially in a highly disordered state, organise themselves to form the highly ordered structure that composes that fantastic “thing” that is a unicellular organism.

On a bigger scale, the primary role of the Sun is to provide Earth with low-entropy radiation, so that our planet can lower its ever-increasing disorder (for an explanation, look for example at “The Emperor’s New Mind” by Roger Penrose).

If you think about it in these terms, Life is, in fact, one of those curious little things that struggle against disorder. For more resources on how to give a definition of Life in terms of reducing entropy, you can start from Wikipedia.

When sentences like “My life is a mess” pass through your mind, we should think first about the fact that Life is the antidote of Nature to disorder.

In my opinion, the existence of life is a highly overrated phenomenon.

Dr Manhattan – The Watchmen

So, my question for this post is: given the fact that our mere existence contributes to Nature’s “grand scheme” of trying to decrease entropy when possible, is there something more we can do to foster that endeavour? Or, at least, is there some lesson we can draw from this line of reasoning to improve our lives?

I have given myself a wholly personal and debatable answer: I can try to lower the “disorder” in my relations. I will try to achieve the goal in two ways: by making more human connections, and in attempting to maintain pre-existing ones in a healthy state.

When in doubt, connect.

Seth Godin

Making new connections is easy if we have a little courage.

We need the courage to listen, the courage to have enough empathy, the courage to understand what is the story of the person we are speaking to.

However, it is not only the number of connections that matters. It is easy to form a relationship for the duration of a coffee break, a day of work, a week being neighbours at the beach. What is difficult is to create a connection that can last for months, years, a whole lifetime and have a strong effect on both recipients.

When a relation lasts for long enough time, what I like to call “entropy” invariably creeps in. It’s a law of Nature, you can’t avoid that.

Unstable condition / A symptom of Life

Rush – Vital signs

Occasional misunderstandings, noticing some flaws that were not apparent at first, changes in general disposition, shifts in the topics usually discussed, lulls in the dialogue, one going away for study/work… If you don’t care enough, these factors can degrade a relationship until it turns into a “vegetative state”: some autonomic life functions remain, but the overall outlook is pretty bleak. Worse, it could break down completely.

You have to care constantly.

It would be best if you had in every moment the same empathy you had when the relationship began.

It would help if you were forever giving.

True friendship resists time, distance and silence.

Isabell Allende

There is, however, a third way to reduce entropy in your relations: to cut down some of them. Some relationships are not redeemable, they are broken beyond repair or are utterly toxic.

Entropy is the same law that states that, while you can turn a fish tank into fish soup, you surely can’t turn fish soup into a fish tank with living fishes. Knowing the difference is vital.

Until next time, happy new year!