Stephen writes: “Given that systems are abstractions - there would many you can choose from. Some would be complex systems (eg energy and mass circulation with respect to compressor/fan strength”
Steve writes: “It is the nature of reductionism to find and/or create subsystems of subsystems to study in isolation, or with imaginary steady-state inputs/boundary conditions. “ In Glen’s example there is a compressor and there are at least two compartments with distinct temperatures. If aliens encountered a functioning refrigerator (including the Jello) and studied it as a black box and failed to rationalize these components and their distinct roles, they would have missed the most important things about it. This is not to say that there isn’t also insight to be gained by modeling as a single physical system to understand thermal inefficiencies. But without the idea that the compartments that *ought* to be at different temperatures, the concept of inefficiency is meaningless. Marcus
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