Entropy
is a very intriguing concept. It is a measure
of disorder in a system. I find it quite incredulous that randomness can
even be measured and studied like any other physical phenomenon! Well, doesn't
that go against the very definition of random? If you can study it then it
means there's an underlying order, right?? But it gets stranger. For some
reason, Nature always prefers that entropy increase. I find this fascinating.
It is unbelievable, but in our own lives we've seen examples of it. How often
have we seen the room we so painstakingly cleaned revert back to the same state
of haphazardness, in spite of all our wishes to keep it clean?? Even the
expansion of the universe as explained by the Big Bang Theory exhibits this
preference for multiplying entropy. It started as a concentrated point mass
with very little randomness, yet today it is a mind-bendingly random and spread
out.
Not just the physical universe, entropy applies to human activities too. There's a concept called Social Entropy. It measures the natural decay of social systems. In Sociology, a related idea is "dumbing- down". It refers to the over-simplification of things, over a period of time. It is not exactly a counterpart of entropy, where randomness increases. Dumbing-down results is degrading of quality, over time. I've seen a lot of this dumbing-down in my college. As a techie, I know the practical importance of some of the concepts in Mathematics vis-à-vis engineering. But, when one of my teachers explained it, it lost all significance; the person simply put it up as an abstract equation whose only purpose was to help us finish the given problem. There's also this public outcry that over the years even competitive exams seemed to have dumbed-down. Every year I've heard people say that JEE is not what it used to be; that formulaic teaching and cracking the pattern have made it lose its pedigree. I've no idea how far it is true, since I never gave JEE a shot. Appeal some reader of this blog, to please educate me on this.
Mass Media is a classic example where dumbing down can be seen. In order to reach a wider audience, complex topics are expressed in the most mundane of language in talk shows. In some ways it is good, but scholars say that the inner purport of the idea is lost when broken down. Sensationalism is also a side outcome.
Talking of sensationalism- the bane of today's mass media. In the name of making quick money and boosting viewership, channels have resorted to over-hyping petty, irrelevant issues. The Western media is a trendsetter in this, and the Indian media is playing catch up. Gossip columns are longer than the editorial pages, reports on which film released where, who wore what in high parties rule the roost over issues of price rise and poverty in the pecking order of newsworthy items. There is a conscious tendency to focus interest on the perverse, base, cheap issues. I'm tempted to coin a new term to describe this. I call it the "SwapnaSundari Syndrome". Tamil-speaking readers can relate easily to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krptuzbFh3I&feature=related
Film: Karakkatakaran. The comedy duo Goundamani and Senthil.(G and S, hereafter)
G&S are musicians in this movie. They have gone to a town to perform when their ramshackle car breaks down and they are forced to push it. The hero, who is also part of the troupe asks Goundamani what is so special about the car that he still keeps it. G recites an illustrious list of past owners including the Maandurai Maharaja, Trivandrum Highness, Hyderabad Nizam, a Minister, an MLA and cinema glamour actress Swapna Sundari who was the last owner. Now Senthil, who is also pushing the car whispers something in G's ears which causes him to rise in anger and slap S. After sometime, he slaps him again and then again. The hero reprimands G and asks for the reason. G says, "He asked, we have the car now, but who’s having the previous owner Swapna Sundari now? (as a mistress)".
This is what I'm hitting at. The issue here was of the ramshackle car, yet Senthil concentrates on the gossip item. Most of our channels are doing this. Leave out real, burning issues. Go after the perverse. There by hangs a tale.
Not just the physical universe, entropy applies to human activities too. There's a concept called Social Entropy. It measures the natural decay of social systems. In Sociology, a related idea is "dumbing- down". It refers to the over-simplification of things, over a period of time. It is not exactly a counterpart of entropy, where randomness increases. Dumbing-down results is degrading of quality, over time. I've seen a lot of this dumbing-down in my college. As a techie, I know the practical importance of some of the concepts in Mathematics vis-à-vis engineering. But, when one of my teachers explained it, it lost all significance; the person simply put it up as an abstract equation whose only purpose was to help us finish the given problem. There's also this public outcry that over the years even competitive exams seemed to have dumbed-down. Every year I've heard people say that JEE is not what it used to be; that formulaic teaching and cracking the pattern have made it lose its pedigree. I've no idea how far it is true, since I never gave JEE a shot. Appeal some reader of this blog, to please educate me on this.
Mass Media is a classic example where dumbing down can be seen. In order to reach a wider audience, complex topics are expressed in the most mundane of language in talk shows. In some ways it is good, but scholars say that the inner purport of the idea is lost when broken down. Sensationalism is also a side outcome.
Talking of sensationalism- the bane of today's mass media. In the name of making quick money and boosting viewership, channels have resorted to over-hyping petty, irrelevant issues. The Western media is a trendsetter in this, and the Indian media is playing catch up. Gossip columns are longer than the editorial pages, reports on which film released where, who wore what in high parties rule the roost over issues of price rise and poverty in the pecking order of newsworthy items. There is a conscious tendency to focus interest on the perverse, base, cheap issues. I'm tempted to coin a new term to describe this. I call it the "SwapnaSundari Syndrome". Tamil-speaking readers can relate easily to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krptuzbFh3I&feature=related
Film: Karakkatakaran. The comedy duo Goundamani and Senthil.(G and S, hereafter)
G&S are musicians in this movie. They have gone to a town to perform when their ramshackle car breaks down and they are forced to push it. The hero, who is also part of the troupe asks Goundamani what is so special about the car that he still keeps it. G recites an illustrious list of past owners including the Maandurai Maharaja, Trivandrum Highness, Hyderabad Nizam, a Minister, an MLA and cinema glamour actress Swapna Sundari who was the last owner. Now Senthil, who is also pushing the car whispers something in G's ears which causes him to rise in anger and slap S. After sometime, he slaps him again and then again. The hero reprimands G and asks for the reason. G says, "He asked, we have the car now, but who’s having the previous owner Swapna Sundari now? (as a mistress)".
This is what I'm hitting at. The issue here was of the ramshackle car, yet Senthil concentrates on the gossip item. Most of our channels are doing this. Leave out real, burning issues. Go after the perverse. There by hangs a tale.
Talking about randomness, 1,2,3,4,5,6 is equally random as 3,5,1,6,2,4.
ReplyDeleteSo, nothing in this universe has order and randomness need not necessarily mean instability or disorder.
For example, tossing a coin has two equi-probable results (0.5 and 0.5).The entropy of this whole event is maximum because of the equi-probable nature.But, we cannot relate instability to this randomness.
Universe was meant to be random .Let us be clear on the "measuring randomness. Randomness is measured relatively.An unfair coin with head on both sides will have probability of getting a head=1.Now consider the following case relative the the above case,
Consider a coin toss ,the randomness of events in increasing order are
p(1)=0.9 and p(tail)=0.1
p(1)=0.8 and p(tail)=0.2
p(1)=0.7 and p(tail)=0.3
p(1)=0.6 and p(tail)=0.4
p(1)=0.5 and p(tail)=0.5
the last event being the most random.
So randomness can be measured!
No never meant to say randomness can't be measured. I found it incredulous. And, I'm not in the same page when you say 1 2 3 4 5 6 is as random as 3 5 1 6 2 4. Well, you see, in the former case the order is brought out by the relative difference of one unit between successive terms, which remains constant as the sequence proceeds,while such a constant difference is missing in the latter case. The first one is ordered in that sense. Probably you meant to say "choosing" 1 2 3 4 5 6 is as random as 3 5 1 6 2 4.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not sure how you can attribute an "entropy" to a coin toss event. In fact entropy increases only in the sense that energy expended to toss the coin gets wasted.
I quite like the 1 2 3 4 5 vs 3 5 1 6 2 4.
ReplyDeleteI think I partially agree with the anonymous person above. True that 1 2 3 4 5 has a relation which is simple and straight forward. But 3 5 1 6 2 4 also has a relation, maybe it is more complex relation. But that doesn't relate to the "degree" of random-ness is it?