eva> borroing expressions from physics such as entropy and using them
eva> willy-nilly to make an economic or social statement look as
eva> pseudoscientific as astrology is.
brad> Just how does it fit in with this *entroy* scientc/scientism/
brad> mythology....Suppose someone found a bread mold that would cure
brad> AIDS...
C'mon, guys, let's not have a bunfight over the *metaphorical* use of
"entropy". There are numerous godawful entropy metaphors in print,
some of them in the (putatively) scientific literature. Jay is talking
about the non-metaphorical entropy of steam engines and barrels of oil
burned.
Living things collectively -- the global ecology or biomass --
constitute a very special, indeed unique domain. Organisms dissipate
a lot of energy to create little bags of low entropy in the form of
proteins and other biochemicals. Despite the gigabytes of scientific
publication in biology, we have still a rather vague grasp of how life
works and we don't do very well at duplicating its mechanisms of
harvesting a little order from a dissapative energy throughput.
Applying the notion of entropy to economics is long overdue because
economics attempts to describe deeds done in the physical world. The
theory may be couched in terms of "excahnge of value" but in practice
we're talking about food, washing machines, perchloroethylene and
disposable diapers. The first place I saw it was in the remark,
"Throw it away? There is no such thing as "away". Both trash and
entropy of physical systems go somewhere. If there's too much in one
place, you keep stepping in it. "Value" is a metaphor. You can create
it with a pencil or a few words exchanged. The entropy of the universe
continues to "tend to a maximum."
Applying entropy to social systems generally is a can of worms.
Specifically, our discourse commonly mixes and muddles our literal and
metaphorical usages so casually that it requires diligent effort and
exceptional attentiveness to eliminate the resulting ambiguities.
I've several times heard people say things like, (speaking, say, of
someone who became angry and belligerent), "he literally exploded",
apparently with no awareness of how absurd the construction is. The
discovery of a simple AIDS cure would dissipate some energy and would
save the lives of at least a few people who would go on to make
anti-entropic contributions to society. If these ex-victims live to
use more oil, throw "away" more toxic crud, provide a demand for
Roundup(tm)-resistant bioengineered monoculture crops, they're probably
increasing net entropy within the biosphere. An energy or entropy
balance sheet for the discovery of a wonderdrug and its inrtoduction
could be estimated but a dialog on the subject would be subject, at
best, to numerous digressions and backtrackings as contradictions
engendersd by mungled metaphors and misplaced concreteness emerged.
- Mike
--
Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mspencer/home.html
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