this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2025
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I have to ask what you mean by fight against entropy? Are you referring to the apparent paradox that complex life goes against the idea of entropy tending to increase?
It is, however, only apparent. Assembleages, as you call them, are just possible expressions of energy in the system. Like if you put energy into a double pendulum in can swing in complex patterns. When you make any local reduction to entropy, by assembling order, it necessarily comes at the cost of increased 'global' entropy. That's the meaning of the second law. Nobody can fight against it, without reversing the direction of time.
I'd say the fight against entropy is an attempt to retain specific expressions of energy in the system. The expressions of energy are assemblages that have created order. And yes, as you said, the creation of order has a cost: greater global entropy.
In case you're interested, this way of looking at entropy and life comes from Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.