Social entropy

Social entropy is a macrosociological systems theory. It is a measure of the natural decay within a social system. It can refer to the decomposition of social structure or of the disappearance of social distinctions. Much of the energy consumed by a social organization is spent to maintain its structure, counteracting social entropy, e.g., through legal institutions, education and even the promotion of television viewing. Anarchy is the maximum state of social entropy. Social Entropy implies the tendency of social networks and society in general to break down over time, moving from cooperation and advancement towards conflict and chaos.

Social Entropy and Energy Inputs

Modern Western complex societies remain organized by large inputs of energy to mitigate the natural progression of increasing entropy (disorder), according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, a fundamental law of physics. This effectively states that Entropy (disorder) increases with time. As the system becomes more complex, through access to energy, it becomes more susceptible to changes that may occur if one were to remove this source of energy. Take away the energy inputs (largely from fossil fuels) and organization corrodes, thus society becomes less cohesive and trends toward anarchy.

Energy Return on Energy Invested theories

A related economic model is proposed by Thomas Homer-Dixon and by Charles Hall in relation to our declining productivity of energy extraction, or Energy Return on Energy Invested or EROEI. This measures the amount of surplus energy a society gets from using energy to obtain energy.

There would be no surplus if EROEI approaches 1:1. What Hall showed is that the real cutoff is well above that, estimated to be 3:1 to sustain the essential overhead energy costs of a modern society. Part of the mental equation is that the EROEI of our generally preferred energy source, oil, has fallen in the past century from 100:1 to the range of 10:1 with clear evidence that the natural depletion curves all are downward decay curves. An EROEI of more than ~3, then, is what appears necessary to provide the energy for societally important tasks, such as maintaining government, legal and financial institutions, a transportation infrastructure, manufacturing, building construction and maintenance and the life styles of the rich and poor that a society depends on.

The EROEI figure also affects the number of people needed for food production. In the pre-modern world, it was often the case that 80% of the population was employed in agriculture to feed a population of 100%, with a low energy budget. In modern times, the use of cheap fossil fuels with an exceedingly high EROEI enabled 100% of the population to be fed with only 4% of the population employed in agriculture. Diminishing EROEI making fuel more expensive relative to other things may require food to be produced using less energy, and so increases the number of people employed in food production again.

Entropy in the context of a Micro-level

The typical progression of time continues to see words appended with marginally altered meanings and / or contexts. Entropy is now used in a newly revised context that moves from an en-mass, social system to that of an individual's state of mind; To refer to another person's state of mind as "One of entropy" or, "Entropic" is to cite that individual as having conflicting thoughts specific to a topic that cannot be worked through via general cognitive process. Or, to remain in a general state of confusion due to fatigue or failing to understand Executive Functions which are critical to make it through a normal day.

See also

• Energetics

Further reading

• Klaus Krippendorff's Dictionary of Cybernetics (University of Pennsylvania)
• Kenneth D. Bailey (1990). Social Entropy Theory. Albany, New York: State University of New York (SUNY) Press. ISSN 1094-429X

External links

• Prediction Science
• The Second Law of Thermodynamics to an Unusual Domain