Over the last 2 decades, having
observed, sometimes too closely, humans - systems – and the
interaction between them. I have been very intrigued by the singular and
homogenous behaviour patterns of people. Of people as singular entities and
people as a homogenous group in a system, community – team. Read
‘group’.
Something strange happens, when you meet people as
individuals, their thoughts, feelings, expressions, convictions are different
than, when they are in a group… my initial, almost primitive
conclusion was - acceptance by a group – being liked and respected
etc. and while all this might be true…and obviously recognisable by the
“subjects” – it still continues to happen. Even when it is not desired or
intended.
In my quest to find another way to
look at this – the whys -the whats - the hows...
I stumbled upon the role of “Entropy” in thermodynamics – the
study of matter – heat and energy. Very safely one can apply ALL these
words in context of humans and human behaviour.
Some of the interesting
definitions of the word “Entropy” are:
-
A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.
- A measure of the loss of information in a
transmitted message.
-The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to
evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.
- Inevitable and steady deterioration
of a system or society.
The Last definition is what got me hooked.....
And
in my quest to “finding in translation”
– I began to see a pattern
And
what inarguably works for thermodynamics ..must also works for living systems
and people. – At least that is a hypothesis.
So,
if
The second law of
thermodynamics asserts the irreversibility of natural processes, and the
tendency of natural processes to lead towards spatial homogeneity (uniform composition of space – read
“Uniformity – equality – fairness ” in the way nature works). Toward thermodynamic equilibrium.
It is important at this
point to understand what “Equilibrium”
means - It means a state of balance. In a state of
thermodynamic equilibrium, there are no net flows of energy and no unbalanced
potentials (or driving forces), within the system. A system that is in
thermodynamic equilibrium experiences no changes when it is isolated from its
surroundings… there is no such thing as “alone” or independent. (hence -
no need for “acceptance” by the ‘other’ – it is an Intrinsic connectedness as a
FACT)
It can be formulated in a variety
of interesting and important ways.
When two initially isolated systems in
separate but nearby regions of space, each in thermodynamic equilibrium in itself but not necessarily with
each other, are then allowed to interact, they will eventually reach a mutual
thermodynamic equilibrium.
AND
The sum of the entropies of
the initially isolated systems is less than or equal to the total entropy of
the final combination. Equality occurs just when the two original systems have
all their respective intensive variables equal; then the final system also has
the same values.
What this means in
simple language is - when two or more entities, people (group), are
in complete “equilibrium” in and by themselves, when they come together –
interact – they will eventually reach mutual equilibrium.
And in this state of
“Mutual Balance” - The inevitable - “Entropies”, the degree of disorder in the
team, will be equal to or less than the sum of their individual entropies…
The opposite of this is
also true. When the “individuals” have not reached an inner equilibrium – the
entropies will be amplified – leaving the “System” inundated.
Well this answered many
of my questions about systems not functioning to their potential…and what needs
to be done. All natural processes are irreversible. Reversible processes are a
convenient theoretical fiction and do not occur in nature. J
So much to learn from
Nature.
Do we need a case for
the relationship between - “Inner work” - growth - Interdependence –
Collaboration and Fractal Patterns?
Rhea
