This article will discuss the theory of entropy and its relationship to the business world. There is a lot to cover.
I have a definition of entropy that I got out of a dictionary, probably the Unabridged Miriam Webster dictionary in my local library. The definition states that entropy is a measure of order of disorder in a system. Entropy always increases and available energy decreases in a closed system such as the universe.
I would add that since energy and matter are related as per Einstein's famous equation of E = Mc^2 that the available matter also decreases. Further stated, the universe become smaller and weaker at every passing moment with every passing action of the reagents in the universe.
In order for anything to happen in the universe, consciousness has to bind itself to energy and work on the material universe. As such, the universe operates like a gigantic sacrificial system.
So what does this mean in the world of business and economics? Well, we already know that economics is called “The dismal science.” Resources in the universe are limited and are subject be being exhausted and despite the claims made by various business entities about how you will save money with them, I find that claim is never substantiated in the real world.
I am Jewish by birth and I studied Judaism with a number of noted teachers including the very famous and controversial Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Shlomo was giving a shiur (“lecture”) about how Jewish history has evolved. First we were enslaved in Egypt and then we broke free.
On the way out of Egypt, the Amalekites who were descended from Esau's grandchild attacked us. Amalek simply says, “OK, you're really cute! You are free for a few minutes but you will see you will be enslaved soon again.”
Shlomo said that he used to pay visits to local prisons and he'd ask about someone. The people still in the jail would say, “Yeah, that person is free now, but don't worry they will be back soon.” Simply put the Amalek principle says, “You can't beat me!”
Over the ages, we tangled with all the major world powers. Finally, we broke free of Greece and the Roman Empire showed up. Even though we have a 3rd Jewish commonwealth we are not our own people.
I was going for my two degrees in business at the time of the Bell system's divestiture. I actually did a case study while in graduate school in the Boston University/Ben Gurion University of the Negev Joint Master of Science in Management program back in the mid "80s.
According to the case study the results of the break up of Ma Bell was supposed to create savings for the customers as competition increased in the supplier market for telephone goods and services. But as usual it never really happened that way and entropy (and the profit motive) are the reasons why.
A second example can be understood in terms of energy resources. The current balance of power is very much revolving around the availability of oil and the demand for it worldwide. Simply put, the forces at work in the economy will have to find a way for new forms of energy to be manufactured and supplied to end users.
Even when new forms of alternative energy are created, be it biodeisel, ethanol, solar power, etc. the end result will never be a savings passed on to the consumer. And the suppliers of the energy resources will also not be doing any better. Simply put, there is nothing to be gained in the long run. We will all be lucky if we all simply tread water.
Furthermore, politics will be involved and God only knows what that will do to all of us. I hope we will not see the coming of Ragnarok.
One of my hobbies is making objects out of rubber like masks and toys and my second hobby is playing the guitar. I have 2 more examples from these hobbies to discuss how entropy works.
In the Orient where most of the duplication work is done for rubber toys, the molds are usually made from plaster of Paris compounds and they are hand made and not manufactured using machinery. This is in contradistinction to metal molds made by tool and die. There are several reasons why.
First of all, the tooling up to do molds by machines can be done but it is not cost effective in the Orient where manual labor is very inexpensive. Secondly, there is a method for going directly from clay sculptures to metal molds and that also isn"t done for the same reasons.
One day, when inflation affects the Orient like it does the West, they will probably also try to go hi tech when it comes to making molds, that is already done by some people in the USA. But by that time, more factors may be involved in the mix.
