Posted on April 24, 2015
The Georgia Good Ol’ Boy is an engineer and an avid consumer of science fiction. Recently, he and my brother, who I will refer to as the Connecticut Yankee (even though he lives in Massachusetts), have teamed up to write blog about stuff that, quite frankly, breaks my brain. (You can read their blog at www.betweenuniverses.com.)
So the other day the Good Ol’ Boy turns to me and says, “Do you think entropy and evolution are mutually exclusive?”
I was tempted to explain to him that when I use the term “mutually exclusive,” it usually has something to do with a relationship between a man and a woman who are on the point of forming a couple. So I made one of those noises that sounds sort of like I was paying attention and just kept on knitting.
Later, when he wasn’t around, I looked up the meaning of entropy. There are a lot of definitions of it at dictionary.com, and the only one I understood was: “a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.” The rest of the definitions were scientific and had to do with the laws of thermodynamics. Basically the universe is losing heat or something like that. Or maybe it means that chaos reigns. Whatever…
The Good Ol’ Boy has been talking about entropy for days now. And, really, I’m so happy he’s got something to keep his mind occupied. But still all this science talk is starting to get to me.
Take this morning for example. As we walked down the front path to the car I pointed to my garden, where the phlox is blooming along with the tulips. Unfortunately, in amongst the perennials and spring bulbs I’ve got chick weed, spring onions, dandelions, and half a dozen other species of weeds. In short, the garden is a complete mess.
“See that,” I said. “The weeds are a perfect example of entropy. They are turning my order into chaos. And the reason that is happening is because of inertia — as in, I am having trouble finding the energy to get off my backside and go out and weed.”
The good ol’ boy laughed, which he does whenever I crack a lame joke. This is why I’ve kept him around, even though, recently he’s taken to asking me existential questions right in the middle of Mad Men. . .
Here is a picture of my weedy garden.
Chick weed, dandelions, and spring onions encroach on the phlox in my garden.
So, what’s causing chaos and disorder (AKA entropy) at your house?
