Wednesday, October 26, 2011

On Time Invariance and Quote of the Day, Day 2 and 3

Most physical processes are time invariant - i.e. they are as likely to happen backward as they are to happen forward. The general notion of an arrow of time exists mostly because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law stipulates that the entropy of an isolated system cannot decrease with time. That is the processes that increase entropy are favored over those that decrease it and the universe is therefore moving inescapably from a state of order to a state of chaos. Entropy is not time invariant - entropy is actually time itself.

The human life seems to somehow contradict the Second Law of Thermodynamics - as we accumulate knowledge, we increase order. However, this is only one side of the process. With every breath we take, we also wear off a little bit more the cells of our body. We are decreasing the entropy on a macro level but be pay be increasing the entropy on a micro level.And then comes the big singularity. Sooner or later, we all die (regretfully in the last few weeks we've lost a lot of great people in the worlds of computing and motor sport). In an instant the entropy increases significantly. Describing his own fear of death, Steve Jobs said:

2."I want to believe in an afterlife, that when you die, it doesn't just all disappear. The wisdom you've accumulated. Somehow it lives on. But sometimes I think it's just like an on-off switch -- click and you're gone."

This quote is from the article "How to live, and die, like Steve Jobs" by Mashable's Pete Cashmore for CNN. I think that somehow he is write - we do not suddenly become chaos - the order that we create lingers on. There are people whose life, we've touched (in the case of Steve millions of them). Steve's legacy is the increased understanding of not only computing, but also marketing and strategic management. Some could say that because of his life the entropy in the communication and technology sector decreased. And somehow his spirit lives in all of us that are willing to learn from his lessons. For Marco and Dan, I can only say that they leave as a legacy the love and adoration their fans felt for them - making the lives of so many people a little happier. We should all remember what Yoda once said:

3."Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not." (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)

We should all celebrate the life of those we lost because, while becoming a part of the increasing entropy (i.e. heat), they also left order and love behind for us. I hope that this will be the last death-related post. It was certainly not my intention but things outside my control happened. So long champions :(

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