Some Brief Speculations on the Popularity of Entropy as Metaphor

The second law of thermodynamics holds that within a closed system energy degrades from more to less useful forms. Since its inception in the mid-19th century, this principle, the law of entropy, has exercised a fascination on thinkers far removed from the realms of physics: In much the same way that Newtonian physics served previous centuries, the idea of entropy has been turned to account as a world-ordering or root metaphor. Analysis of the "system of associated commonplaces" that attaches to the metaphor illuminates the reasons for its popularity, and these reasons in turn offer grounds for judging the consequences and limitations of allowing the entropy metaphor to mediate the complex of relations between psyche, culture, and nature in the modern world.