OPEN ACCESS
The primary purpose of this article is to provide additional quantitative examples to the recently presented. work [1] wherein a coefficient, a, relating the information processing rate, I, and the entropy production rate, S, of a system was introduced via I =aS. This expanded manuscript provides further examples of Shannon information content in simple binary systems, additional quantitative examples of the relationship between information and money, and an exposé on how the theory presented in [1] may be viewed in the context of Big History. Specifically, our global civilization is entropicizing our planet at a rate of at least 1023 times greater than the average universal entropization rate. The cause of this Kurzweilian anthropogenic entropy acceleration is rooted in the Darwinian behavior of individuals as well as entire societies. This article also proposes not only that the ‘carnot’ and the ‘shannon’ be introduced as units for entropy and information, respectively, but also that other terms such as ‘complexity’ be canonized by the sciences in the same manner that terms such as ‘work’ and ‘energy’ have been canonized by the engineering disciplines.
anthropogenic, Big History, contingency, economics, entropy, information, sustainability
[1] Layton, B.E., Anthropogenic entropy acceleration and its relationship to Shannon information in the context of socioeconomics. Energy and Sustainability, 2014. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 186, 2014. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/esus140271
[2] Feynman, R.P., Leighton, R.B. & Sands, M.L., The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 2, Addison-Wesley: Reading, MA, 1963.
[3] Clausius, R., The Mechanical Theory of Heat, MacMillan: London, 1879.
[4] Carnot, S.N.L., Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat and on Machines Fitted to Develop that Power, John Wiley: New York, 1890.
[5] Chaisson, E.J., Energy rate density. II. Probing further a new complexity metric. Complexity, 17(1), pp. 44–63, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cplx.20373
[6] Chaisson, E.J., Energy rate density as a complexity metric and evolutionary driver. Complexity, 16(3), pp. 27–40, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cplx.20323
[7] Everett, R., et al., Energy Systems and Sustainability: Power for a Sustainable Future, Oxford University Press, 2012.
[8] Rolle, K.C., Thermodynamics and Heat Power, 6th edn., Pearson/Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005.
[9] Worldometers. Worldometers Real Time World Statistics, , available at http://www.worldometers.info/, 7 March 2015.
[10] Layton, B.E., Dr. Bradley Layton April Energy Series 3 – Uncle Helios: A Financial Analogy to Global Fossil Fuel Consumption Rates, available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list= PLNM8cJC1mnW42dHuvto2K_5YlWN-rGrqe, 2015.
[11] Gal-Or, B., Cosmology, Physics, and Philosophy, Springer-Verlag: New York, 1983.
[12] SchröDinger, E., What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell; With, Mind and Matter; & Autobiographical Sketches, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, New York, 2012.
[13] Lindeburg, M.R., Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, 12th edn., Professional Publications: Belmont, CA, 2006.
[14] Shankaranarayanan, S., Corrections to Bekenstein–Hawking entropy – quantum or not-so quantum? Entropy, 13, pp. 11–16, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e13010011
[15] Ferhat, S. & Fitzgerald, D., Comfort in courtyard house, with cool winter, 1988. 13th National Passive Solar Conference of the American Solar Energy Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, 1988.
[16] Raman, A.P., et al., Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight. Nature, 515, pp. 540–544, 2014. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13883
[17] Jaynes, E.T., Gibbs vs Boltzmann entropies. American Journal of Physics, 33(5), pp. 391–398, 1965. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.1971557
[18] Tainter, J., Collapse of Complex Societies, available at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=G0R09YzyuCI, 2012.
[19] Hollifield, M., Thompson Fullilove, M. & Hobfoll, S.E., Climate change refugees. Climate Change and Human Well-Being International and Cultural Psychology, pp. 135–162, 2011.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9742-5_8
[20] Sachs, J., Climate change refugees. Scientific American, 296, pp. 43, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1038/scientificamerican0607-43
[21] Shannon, C.E., et al., Claude Elwood Shannon: Collected Papers, IEEE Press: New York, 1993.
[22] Shannon, C.E., A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27, pp. 379–423 & 623–656, 1948. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb00917.x
[23] Lin, S.-K., Diversity and entropy. Entropy, 1, pp. 1–3, 1999. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ e1010001
[24] Layton, B., The role of mechanoevolution in predicting the future of micro- and nanoscale technologies. Systems Engineering for Microscale and Nanoscale Technologies, eds. M.A.G. Darrin & J. Barth, CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2011.
[25] Layton, B.E. The application of game theory to thermoeconomics. Proceedings of the ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition, 11–17 November 2011, Denver, CO.
[26] Layton, B.E., Mechanoevolution: an examination of the coevolution of humans and technology. Inaugural Meeting of the International Big History Association, 5 August 2012, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
[27] Layton, B.E., Mechanoevolution: the possibility of deeper connections between information theory and the second law. ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 12–18 November 2010, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
[28] Diamond, J.M., Guns, Germs, and Steel : The Fates of Human Societies, 1st edn, W.W. Norton & Co.: New York, 25, 1997.
[29] Layton, B.E., Recent patents in bionanotechnologies: nanolithography, bionanocomposites, cell-based computing and entropy production. Recent Patents in Nanotechnology, 2(2), pp. 72–83, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/187221008784534532
[30] Google, 2012. 8 Columbine Rd, available at https://www.google.com/maps/@46.894235,113.959996,3a,75y,277.68h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sKOuDKh56KXbPEyZSW0AUlA!2e 0!6m1!1e1
[31] Layton, B.E., A comparison of energy densities of prevalent energy sources in units of joules per cubic meter. International Journal of Green Energy, 5, pp. 438–455, 2008. doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1080/15435070802498036
[32] Prigogine, I., The Behavior of Matter Under Nonequilibrium Conditions: Fundamental Aspects and Applications, Center for Studies in Statistical Mechanics: Austin, TX, 1990.
[33] Genet, R., The Chimpanzees Who Would Be Ants: The Evolutionary Epic of Humanity, Nova Science Publications: Commack, NY, 1997.
[34] Genet, R.M., Personal Communication, 05 August 2012, Director, Inaugural Meeting of the International Big History Association, Orion Institute, Santa Margarita, CA.
[35] Dawkins, R., The Ancestor’s Tale : A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, Houghton Mifflin: Boston, MA, 2004.
[36] Dick, S.J. & Lupisella, M., Cosmos & Culture : Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context, Nasa Sp, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of External Relations for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.: Washington, DC, 2009.
[37] Toffler, A., The Third Wave, 1st edn, Morrow: New York, 1980.
[38] Christian, D., David Christian: the history of our world in 18 minutes, available at http://www. ted.com/talks/david_christian_big_history.html, 2011.
[39] Nash, J., The bargaining problem. Econometrica, 18(2), pp. 155–162, 1950. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/1907266
[40] Wright, R., The Moral Animal : The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology, 1st edn, Pantheon Books: New York, 1994.
[41] Beinhocker, E.D., The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics, Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA, 2006.
[42] Brandenburg, J. & Rix Paxson, M., Dead Mars, Dying Earth/by John E. Brandenburg and Monica Rix Paxson, Crossing Press: Freedom, CA, 1999.
[43] Mcshea, D.W., Unnecessary complexity. Science, 342(13 Dec), pp. 1319–1320, 2013. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1245386