Author(s)

B. E. Layton

Abstract

The primary purpose of this paper is to familiarize the reader with the potential role that the relationship between entropy and information plays in socioeconomics. The secondary purpose is to explore the proposition that the volumetrically normalized terrestrial entropization rate is ~10²³ greater than that of the cosmic rate. This is done via a quantitative exploration of entropy generation at scales ranging from the nanoscopic to the cosmic. A working quantitative relationship between entropy and information in several systems is then explored in the context of “informational fitness.” Exploitation by selfish dishonest systems of contingencies implicit in socioeconomics are then discussed in the context of the entropy-information relation to reveal how these systems persist. Finally, an argument is presented for embracing Kelvin’s quantitative basis of science rather than abandoning the use of numbers because of misperceived semantics (McShea, 2013 “Unnecessary Complexity” Science 342: 1319–1320).

Keywords

Clausius entropy, Shannon information, sustainability, game theory, contingency, entropic acceleration, anthropogenic activity, selfish dishonest systems, terrestrial entropization, Carnot entropy