I like these original takes on matters and I thank you for them…
When last seen, I was in the process of understanding
being and becoming in terms of thermodynamics…
entropy to be exact…and process is a good word to use…
being is a process as is becoming…….
and being isn’t just being… we human beings because of process,
are always, always in some change or another… we aren’t fixed…
physically anyway… our bodies because of processes that have existed for
billions of years, continue to change us physically…whether we are aware of
it or not… we age is one such process… and what is aging? it is simply the
process of entropy at work in our bodies… our bodies become disordered
as we become older…and that disorder is shown by my inability to
run as fast, or to lift as much or my lack of endurance…
my body is decaying and that is entropy at work…
we can never really just be… being is just a momentary stop in the
ever ongoing process of entropy… we are always becoming…
at some point, my body will become so disordered, that I will
naturally die of old age… death is human entropy taken to
its logical end…
at most, at most, we can only slow down the process of entropy…
if illness or accidents don’t kill us, entropy is sure to…
so physically, human process is simply entropy working on our bodies,
making it disorder… aging…and there is really nothing we can do about
entropy… the attempt to make us “ageless” is a futile attempt because
we cannot defeat physics. We cannot end something that is built into
the universe… we cannot end something that is part and parcel of
the universe…there is matter… stars, planets, comets, galaxies and entropy…
there is energy and there is entropy…
any description of the universe that doesn’t include entropy isn’t
really a description of the universe…
and so we return to becoming…in human beings… physically,
becoming is really just more and more entropy,
disorder in the human being…is aging…
so when we refer to becoming in human being it cannot be
something physical because that is aging and then death…
no, becoming refers to something that we do emotionally,
psychology, mental… it is growth that is inside of us…
when we understand human beings have gone from animals, like dogs
and cats and birds and cows, to being animal/human… that isn’t a
physical change we are referring to… the human structure hasn’t changed
much in a million years… we are referring to the changes within us…
what has change internally that has allowed us to go from animal to
animal/human? we have done something other animals haven’t done,
which is rise above instinct… we aren’t ruled by instinct… we can
react outside of our instincts… we have a third choice, outside of
fight or flight. and that third choice is a human choice…
and we want to continue our growth from animal to animal/human to
becoming human, fully human and that means we grow enough to
rise above instincts, all instincts……… we make choices based not on
any instincts, such as to mate or to hold to hate but we can rise above
our instinctual nature and make our choices as human beings…
with rational, logical or even just common sense…
when we rise above instincts, that means we rise above violence,
for violence is an instinctual matter, we rise above petty bickering
about land or money or material goods or ego…
we do what is right because it is right according to matters above instincts…
we do what is right not because our instincts told us, but because it
becomes the right thing to do…and that “right” thing to do, is
situational ethics… and dependent upon the situation, we may
save ourselves and again, we may sacrifice ourselves…
there is no universal ethical requirement like Kant’s duty…
but we can see how our understanding of matter like entropy
can lead us to make ethical choices… the universe is
engaged in entropy… we are part of the universe and thus
we too, are engaged in entropy…all that changes is the size…
we are small and we can see entropy happening to us, if we look,
every single day, whereas we cannot see within the stars and galaxies,
entropy, but it is there… just as surely as it is within us, entropy
exists and influences the stars and planets and galaxies and the
universe…
so how are we to think about entropy and say, ethics?
the question of entropy is a question of disorder, things naturally
become disorder unless enough energy is put into the system to
maintain order…
to hold order within a system, is a question of energy being put into
that system… as disorder is natural, entropy is natural, by doing nothing,
the disorder within that system will increase, that is the law of nature, of
entropy…to maintain a system, we must not only keep enough energy in
the system to maintain that system, but because entropy naturally
increases as time goes by, we must increase the amount of energy
that goes into a system…
a practical demonstration: your car…when we buy a new car, it needs
are basic and minimal… you put into it the right amount of gas and
the right amount of oil and watch the tire pressure… basic stuff every
single car needs… as the car gets older, the car needs more work,
more energy, more time to keep it running… that is entropy…
the car is aging, it is becoming more disordered…the car begins to
leak oil and doesn’t work as well, despite changing parts…
the car is engaged in entropy just as we human beings engage
in entropy…at some point, even with care and new parts and
a lot of mechanical work, the car won’t work as well as it did
when it was brand new… and then at some point, the car
is so undependable that you start to think about getting rid of it…
it become so much of an time consuming, gas guzzling, money eater,
that getting rid of the car becomes the best way to save yourself
time, money, effort… that is entropy…you already know
what entropy is……. and that there is no getting around
entropy……
so the question of ethics in a system becomes a question of
maintaining energy in a system… how do we keep the system
running? that is what social systems and political systems
and economic systems work on… how do we keep the system running?
and if the system is sucking up so much energy, time, money, effort,
perhaps we should think about replacing that system…
and that is where we are in regards to the economic system called
capitalism… is it worth the trouble to keep that system working?
that there comes a time in every systems life that entropy becomes
so much of a problem, that is it cheaper to dump that system then
try to keep it going, just like a car…….are we here with
not only the economic system of capitalism, but perhaps we are
also here with the political system, democracy?
has that “car” done all it can?
an understanding of where we are at, will help us engage in
some REAL dialogue about where we are and where we want to be…
Are our current systems no longer energy efficient enough to allow
them to continue on?
Kropotkin