Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold -- William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming
Systems tend toward disorder. This is a casual paraphrase of the Second Law of Thermodynamics--the Law of Entropy.
Orson Scott Card's "Alvin Maker" books frame evil as the destructive force, which the world tends toward, like water flowing downhill. Whereas good, the constructive force, must work against the tide.
Things wear out, rocks erode away, the sun cools slowly.
Over a decade ago, I read something that Marilyn Vos Savant wrote. I paraphrase it, thus. Information is not subject to entropy. That which stores the information is subject to entropy--paper decays, your hard drive crashes.
Other than Card's "Alvin Maker," I have not read anything which makes entropy a character in a story. But now I am thinking about it. Right now my ideas are soup. I have to overcome my own entropy to make it into something solid.
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JohnArkwright@thearchoftime.com
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Morrow Castle's Courtyard
JohnArkwright@thearchoftime.com
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About Me
- John Arkwright
- Southern, United States
- John's mother paid for his birth by digging potatoes during the final stages of her pregnancy; his father was in a body cast due to a train wreck. Mom recited The Raven to put John to sleep at night. The soles of his feet were thick and hard from going barefoot for eight months per year; his back was tanned from going shirtless. He loved to read fantasy and science fiction. John completed a PhD in economics from the University of South Carolina. He has published research on the economics of terrorism, education, gambling, corporate incentives, and other topics. John married Julia about the time he earned his first degree. They now live in a small southern mountain town with their three sons. John works hard to show his students how they can use rational decision making to enrich their lives. Julia works hard to raise three sons and an aggravating husband. John writes speculative fiction. He was published in Writers of the Future, Volume 27. Julia, the world's most voracious reader, edits his work. His mother is now deceased. His hero is his father, Scotty.
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