Society and the Laws of Thermodynamics: A Reflection on Order, Chaos, and Effort
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As a German, it’s easy to make certain assumptions about me: I’m always punctual. I make questionable fashion choices. I’m deeply committed to recycling. I have a natural talent for math and physics. Most of these are debatable, but something about my Germanness does seem to translate into an affinity to the laws of physics.
While no one would ever mistake me for a physics whizz (I can almost hear my husband- a true German- chuckling softly to himself at the idea), I do remember learning about the laws of physics as a child and thinking, Yep, that makes sense. The second law of thermodynamics in particular really stuck with me- not just as a rule governing the physical world, but as a perfect explanation for so much of life itself.
It states that the total entropy of an isolated system always increases. Basically, things tend toward disorder. Energy dissipates. Structures break down. This is the natural course of the universe.
Right now, it feels like we’re living in a time of accelerating entropy—where once-stable structures are coming undone, institutions seem increasingly ineffective, and so much energy is lost in the inefficiency of transfer. Systems that previously seemed ordered are fraying at the edges. The momentum that once drove progress is dissipating- like energy lost to friction- fading into something less useful, something harder to reclaim. Things are being dismantled with alarming speed, and what took years to build can unravel in an instant, with energy slipping away faster than we can process the losses. And just as we begin to grasp what’s come apart, the next thing is already unraveling.
Is this process inevitable? Must we, as humans and societies, inevitably succumb to entropy as the universe does? In moments like these, it can feel that way.
Yet physics also teaches us that reducing entropy requires energy. Order does not restore itself spontaneously- it takes deliberate effort. The decline and degradation we perceive are not inevitable, but resisting them demands intentional investment. It requires us to counteract the natural drift toward disorder with effort, creativity, and resilience.
The question isn’t whether entropy exists- it always will. The real question is whether we are willing to invest the energy needed to push back against it.
There is another law of physics that makes sense to me. The first law of thermodynamics (surely even you non-Germans remember this one) states that energy is neither created nor destroyed- only transformed.
To me, this is a reminder that energy is always present, just in different forms. It doesn’t disappear; it shifts, waiting to be redirected. Our challenge is to harness it- creatively, intentionally- and channel it back into the system to drive positive change.
If energy is never truly lost, only transformed, then the question becomes: where do we draw the energy from to restore order?
The good news is that it’s already around us- waiting in the form of collective action, shared purpose, and the deep well of human ingenuity. It’s in the moments of connection, in the spark of new ideas, in the refusal to accept decline as inevitable. We reclaim energy when we support one another, when we build instead of just critique, when we choose engagement over apathy.
Restoring order isn’t about reversing entropy entirely- that would defy the laws of physics. But it is about recognizing that even in times of disorder, we have the power to direct the energy that remains toward something better.