It was again my chemistry teacher who put
me through some thought provoking statements in the class hours. It was when we
were dealing with the second law of thermodynamics. And yeah...how can one forget what it is all
about? Maximum work, entropy, equilibrium, heat transfer etc.
“What does thermodynamics have to do with
clinical psychology? What is the connection between thermodynamics and the
psychology of our mind?”
“Interesting!”, I thought.
I tried defining entropy in psychological
terms. And yes I could figure it out. So that one word corresponding to entropy
in psychology is “unsteadiness”. It is all about unsteadiness of our mind, or it
might also be the unpredictability of our mind. Now what do the laws of thermodynamics
have to do with our unsteadiness? The answer is deeply interrelated and also
simple.
Let me
put here one of the statements made by early researchers because it is worthwhile
knowing it. "Early in the year 1877 Ludwig Boltzmann defined entropy as a
function of micro states that could potentially comprise a particular macro
state. The more the number of micro states it combines to form a macro state,
the more is the entropy associated with the system"(Jacob B. Hirsh). As a result of this, the
ability to perform useful work is altered by reduced accuracy to transform the
present state to a desired state.
Understanding
the relation between entropy and the potentiality to perform useful work can
provide a possible explanation to the uncertainties in biological systems.
Let’s
say that you are very angry at this point of time. You were just deceived by
someone you trusted a lot. In about some one hour you are having your viva for
your internals. The question is whether you will be able to answer the
questions as you would do when you are normal, that is when you are without any
mental disturbances?
I would
probably say a NO. The reason is self-explanatory. So what has happened to
you? It just means that your internal
entropy is in its dominant state. That is you are unstable and therefore you
are not able to think properly. Only when your mind is calm, stable, you are
able to exhibit maximum results. Knowingly or unknowingly, we are always trying
to reduce our internal entropy so that we are able to make sense of what we do.
In the process, we are putting the universe under risk because the external entropy
is increased.
The
more the number of work load we have, the more is the probability of us being
uncertain, unpredictable of what we would do. And this is exactly what I mean by”
micro states”. The more the number of micro states possible, the more is the
macro state under risk. One possible solution would be to find your suitable
way to interrelate those micro states, think about one at a time, so that you
are able to do what you actually want to do!!! It is not easy though, but you
have your freedom to choose your time and practise accordingly. Isn't it?
References:
Hirsh, J.B., R.A., & Peterson, J.B(2012,January 16). Psychological Entropy: A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty-Related Anxiety. Psychological Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/
