Entropies and the Anthropocene crisis

The Anthropocene crisis is frequently described as the rarefaction of resources or resources per capita. However, both energy and minerals correspond to fundamentally conserved quantities from the perspective of physics. A specific concept is required to understand the rarefaction of available resou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAI & society Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 2451 - 2471
Main Author Montévil, Maël
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Springer London 01.12.2023
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Artificial Intelligence
Biological properties
Computer Science
Control
Engineering Economics
Entropy
Logistics
Marketing
Mechatronics
Methodology of the Social Sciences
Organization
Organizations
Original Article
Performing Arts
Rarefaction
Robotics
Anthropocene
Entropy
Organization
Resources
Disruption
Anti-entropy
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Summary:The Anthropocene crisis is frequently described as the rarefaction of resources or resources per capita. However, both energy and minerals correspond to fundamentally conserved quantities from the perspective of physics. A specific concept is required to understand the rarefaction of available resources. This concept, entropy, pertains to energy and matter configurations and not just to their sheer amount. However, the physics concept of entropy is insufficient to understand biological and social organizations. Biological phenomena display both historicity and systemic properties. A biological organization, the ability of a specific living being to last over time, results from history, expresses itself by systemic properties, and may require generating novelties The concept of anti-entropy stems from the combination of these features. We propose that Anthropocene changes disrupt biological organizations by randomizing them, that is, decreasing anti-entropy. Moreover, second-order disruptions correspond to the decline of the ability to produce functional novelties, that is, to produce anti-entropy.
ISSN:0951-5666
1435-5655
DOI:10.1007/s00146-021-01221-0