If I was to say to you that there's a fundamental foundation that links life, physics, wealth, happiness and effort, would you;
a) yawn?
b) laugh?
c) sit up and listen?
If c, read on. Recent reading and thinking has led me to the following conclusion;
Firstly, that the first and second law of thermodynamics hold the keys to the meaning of life. And secondly, progress and wealth are underpinned by an evolutionary mechanism that is universal.
Come again?
I guess I'll need to explain in more detail. I'm not sure I can do it in a single blog post, so bear with me as I fire up a few synapses.
The first law of thermodynamics expresses that energy can be transformed, i.e. changed from one form to another, but cannot be created nor destroyed.
The second law of thermodynamics is an expression of the tendency that over time, differences in temperature, pressure, and chemical potential equilibrate in an isolated physical system.
i.e. - the universe has a finite amount of energy, the universe is an isolated physical system and energy will level out in this system.
The levelling out process is called
entropy. In it's most general sense one can regard entropy as the general decay that surrounds us. A new car will eventually rust, a building will need new paint, food will rot, people grow old and stuff just generally falls apart. New life however is sustained by the sun which provides energy for living creatures.
Life requires continued energy to be sustained otherwise it fades and dies. To stay alive, we need to eat and sleep. (Doing nothing is not an option). There's a certain amount of energy required to stay where we are; we have to keep walking forward to stand still. Every day we need our 2 or 3 thousand calories of energy, we need to rejuvenate with our sleep.
If we do more than just stand still it requires effort. If you want to be wealthy, it requires effort. If you want to have a family and prolong your gene-pool, it requires effort. There's effort required to stand still and yet more effort to more forward.
The effect of all of this extra effort is a
temporary suspension of entropy.
We strive against a tide of entropy that surrounds us and the efforts we all make on a daily basis help drive humanity forward. We have an inner drive and purpose to temporarily suspend entropy. This drive, this striving, is the essence of life. It gives us satisfaction, it gives us meaning and it gives us value. I would even go so far as to suggest that it is the source of our happiness.
When considering the business landscape, you could see it in this way: businesses competing to create business models that temporarily deliver additional value. Over time, new business models become the norm, become commoditised and so companies need to innovate (strive) to do more than stand still. Those that succeed create wealth, those that don't decay and die.
Behind both humanity and business is a common evolutionary algorithm. This evolutionary algorithm is a method to uncover (not by pre-determined means, but by trial and error), organism designs and business plan designs that are optimal for the environment in which they find themselves.
To make sense of life and to make sense of business, you could like me take the following view;
1. We are part of the fabric of life itself, iterations of the human species that are being continuously tweaked to be optimised for the environment we find ourselves in by an evolutionary method
2. We derive satisfaction (value) by striving to do more than to stand still and to suspend entropy as best we can
3. Businesses work by the same means, combining previous business knowledge into new business designs that can temporarily beat the competition (suspend entropy) and create value. To win they must continuously innovate and embrace evolutionary methods in their architecture.
The laws of thermodynamics, together with an evolutionary mechanic are foundational in understanding the human need to strive and the business need to innovate. One delivers satisfaction and happiness, the other value and wealth. Businesses are but collections of humans so this should be no surprise.
If you are still reading this and wonder what I'm on to deliver such a stream of consciousness, there's two things you should know. I once studied Theology and Religious Studies at University (but am currently an atheist) and that I've recently read "The Origin of Wealth" by Eric Beinhocker. If you get a chance do read Beinhocker, it will help develop the thinking that I've scraped the surface of here.
