Entropy is a concept that most are unfamiliar with. It is a topic covered in most of the major science fields such as physics, chemistry, and biology. The concept is relatively abstract and is considered difficult to grasp due to the abstraction The applications and theories derived from entropy are primarily theoretical, however, they provide a different perspective of the universe.
Entropy, by definition, is the measure of disorder in a system. Typically, this concept is taught within units involving heat such as thermodynamics in physics and thermochemistry in chemistry. In a physics perspective, the second law of thermodynamics states that for any amount of energy used, the net change in entropy of the universe always increases. This proves a darker theory that eventually the universe will be the same temperature, due to thermal equilibrium, and will be filled with unusable energy which would not sustain life. This is known as the heat death of the universe and is just one theory that predicts how the universe meets its end.
The concept of entropy takes on a more philosophical meaning. Since entropy represents the amount of disorder in a system, this can be applied to daily occurrences. For example, if you organize your room, you expel energy that cannot be used again in forms such as heat and sound energy. So though the room may be organized now, the action of organizing the room made the universe more disordered by the expulsion of unusable energy. Though the net jump in entropy is small, the idea that everything you do pushes the universe closer and closer to death is still there.
This fact that as individuals, we still have an effect on the entirety of the universe by carrying out our daily activities is astounding. On a reassuring note, despite the death of the universe being inevitable, it won’t happen for trillions of centuries.
