From Entropy to Evolution
A multidisciplinary approach to understand complexity.
By Prajwal Basnet | Nov 24 2024 | 11 minute read
Introduction
Life is one damn relatedness after another. The real world problem are inextricably intertwined -coming into effect in different way with different combination.
However, most of people are trained to overuse familiar ideas - based on reward previously bestowed, and underuse ideas from different discipline. For example: Napoleon won great many wars using fast pace tactics with short supply; However, by attacking moscow, very far, it undermine its own velocity which is comparable to “man with hammer” to whom “every problem looks like nail”.
An animal trained and bred for so narrow purpose that is no good at anything else. " ~ charlie munger
I, therefore, industriously debauched to integrate and execute time tested ideas from multiple discipline —such as Psychology, Systems Thinking, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology—as my sole study and focus.
Consequently, this endeavor aims to integrate these ideas as part of my mental models; And once you start following multidisciplinary path, you would never wish to come back: “It would be like cutting off your hands”. Therefore, For this blog, I have organized each set of ideas from various academic disciplines( highlighted in italics).
1. Reward and Punishment [Psychology]
The essence of Reward and punishment is to influence behaviour. In layman terms, behaviour that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, conversely, behavior that is punished is prone to happen less.
B.F Skinner coined the term: operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Former explains voluntary behaviour based on past experience, while latter explains automatic response to certain triggers.
In operant conditioning, Reinforcement and punishment are two ways to influence behaviour. For example: Skinner used a hungry rat in a Skinner box to demonstrate positive reinforcement. When the rat accidentally pressed a lever, it received a food pellet. The reward (food) encouraged the rat to press the lever repeatedly, reinforcing the behavior. Similarly, A manager might praise an employee for meeting deadline to reinforce positive behaviour, and punish by providing extra work to discourage negative behaviour.
Similarly, Bad habits are intensely habit forming when it is rewarded, so you wil find very few people who terminated bad habits - such as smoking, etc. “ I wear a chain that i am forged"; Meaning, habit that were to light to be felt became a habit that became to strong to break. Thus, one should remain vigilant and guard against bad behaviour -one habit takes advantage of other habit.
Therefore, after learning how rewards influence behaviour -directly or indirectly, it is sensible to use to advantage such as forcing to do unpleasant task before doing rewarding task, or setting reward system to get what they want. And, the famous saying goes: “ Eat carrots before desert”.
On the contrary, Punishment can be equally wonderful as reward to influence behaviour. However, it may be costly to enact at a times, and might have adverse second order effect (consequence of consequence). For example: Illegal price fixing was greatly reduced after removing few prominent business executive, George Washington hanging 40ft high to deserters as an example to other who might contemplate, harsh termination to an employee may lead more employee to resign.
Classical conditioning, on the other hand, trigger automatic response to certain stimulus. For example: In famous experiment, Pavlov discovered that dogs naturally salivated when they saw food (an unconditioned response). He then paired the sound of a bell with mealtime. Over time, the dogs started salivating just at the sound of the bell, even before the food arrived. This salivation in response to the bell became a conditioned response.
It is no coincidence that mac-donald has signature sound logo - “ I’m lovin’ it”.
Another important form of classical conditioning is: INCENTIVE CAUSE BIAS. Not just reward influence behaviour, Expectation for reward - incentive - is enough to influence behaviour. A good example would be, when Xerox couldn't understand why their better machine was selling poorly. They, later, found that salespeople earned higher commissions for selling the older, inferior machine. While not all salespeople were immoral, the incentive structure rationalize pushing the inferior product to customers for higher earnings.
If you would persuade, appeal to interest not reason " ~ Benjamin Franklin
Accordingly, Important job of management should be to “Get the incentives right”. When the Soviets could not achieve results, a Soviet employee put it best: “They pretend to pay, we pretend to work.”
Not just human bahaviour is influenced by incentive, but also they game the system, Anti gaming system- to get what they want; This is perhaps evolutionary ingrained through use of deception, cheating, etc. Therefore, a good system to prevent these kind of behaviour should include both checks for unconditional response and anti gaming system.
2. Thermodynamics Second Law [Physics]
The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy always increases—systems naturally move from order to disorder unless effort is applied. A good analogy is a clean room: left alone, it will become messy -not tidy over time, with clothes piling up and dust gathering. It is because there is more way to attain disorder than to create order.
Similarly, this principle extends beyond physics into biology. Our bodies, typically warmer than our surroundings, must work continuously to maintain temperature difference. When we die that effort ceases, and the temperature gradually equalizes with the environment. Our body is constantly putting effort to fight against disorder.
On a human level, maintaining order in our lives also requires constant effort. Whether it's preserving to take care of our future, by resisting to do short term action which you strongly desire because it is inconsistent with our health, future or circumstance in the world. Failure to do so can lead to chaos and decay.
Even on a societal scale, entropy applies. Democracy, for instance, is not the natural state; tyranny is. Without the continuous work that is needed to maintain order, society would gradually slip into disorder with tyranny.
Entropy reminds us that maintaining order—whether in physics, biology, or society—requires energy and intention. If we don't actively counteract disorder, it will inevitably take over.
3. Second Order Effect [General thinking]
It is fitting that every action has consequence. However, what most people fail to pay heed is that even consequence has consequence. This thinking tool enable us to be more long sighted, with proper redundancy in case of fall safe.
This is especially relevant in academic settings - common with Scientist, and Engineers, where people only think partially through problem. In reality, everything is relative to everything so second order effect requires to consider action and immediate consequence and subsequent effect of those action as well.
For example: Mao Zedong's Great Sparrow Campaign aimed to kill sparrows because they ate grain seeds. Upon terminating sparrow from ecosystem, Locusts and other insects multiplied which caused a famine, killing more than 40 million people. Mao Zedong perhaps considered a consequence, however, failed to consider the consequence of consequence. . British incentivizing with reward to kill snake, which resulted civilians to farm snake.
4. Activation energy [Chemistry]
Activation energy represents the minimum amount of energy required for a chemical reaction to take place. It can be thought of barrier that reactants must overcome to transform into products. Every chemical reaction has an activation energy, and reactions that require higher activation energy tend to progress more slowly.
For instance, the process of iron rusting occurs very slowly at room temperature due to its high activation energy. However, by increasing the temperature or introducing a catalyst—such as salt—it is possible to lower the energy barrier, allowing the reaction to proceed more quickly.
Once a change is initiated, sustaining it typically requires -more or less, the same energy needed to start it. This means that when driving change, it’s not enough to focus solely on the initial spark; you also need to plan for the energy required to maintain and stabilize the transformation.
For instance, overcoming addiction can be compared to initiating a chemical reaction. The initial effort required to quit represents the activation energy—often the most challenging step. However, after this barrier is overcome, sustaining the change requires -more or less, the same energy for period of time. Then, upon attaining inertia (another mental model), it is far more easier to overcome the habit.
A similar principle applies to a wood fire. Significant activation energy is required to ignite the spark and start the fire. Once initiated, the energy needed to sustain the reaction decreases, but maintaining the fire still demands consistent input to keep it burning. In both cases, achieving lasting change relies on both overcoming the initial energy barrier and ensuring sufficient ongoing effort to stabilize the new state.
Many protests aim for revolutionary change, but only a few succeed. The reason lies in the failure to recognize the energy needed not just to spark change, but to sustain it. Real, lasting change requires continuous effort—especially when the activation energy is high, as the reaction will naturally progress more slowly. The key is to invest more effort than you think, and in the end, you’ll get what you deserve.
4. Natural Selection [Biology]
“We are survival machine blindly programmed to preserve selfish molecule."
Natural selection is the process through which organisms adapt and evolve. Individuals with adaptive traits—though not necessarily advantageous—are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing these traits to successive generations, thereby creating a feedback loop. This process is both genetically and cognitively ingrained to preserve the interests of the species. The primary requirements for natural selection are variation, environmental conditions, and reproduction.
Similarly, in business, companies strive to maintain their unique identity, reduce friction to foster innovation, and reproduce their culture to ensure long-term success and adaptability. Just as in nature, businesses must continually adapt to external pressures and internal needs to survive.
However, any advantageous trait will eventually stabilize as it becomes common within the populace. This is where the Red Queen Effect comes into play: any advantage gained by an organism is often neutralized by environmental or competitive responses, ensuring that no species or entity can rest on its laurels. For example, in the arms race between predators and prey, prey may evolve faster speeds or better camouflage, eventually predators will also adapt by becoming faster or more skilled at detecting their targets, effectively balancing the advantage.
“Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in same place" ~Red queen to Alice in wonderland
Furthermore, "Selfishness" in nature doesn’t always mean acting in one’s direct interest. It can manifest in many ways - that is, through altruism, such as people finding joy in pleasing others more than being pleased themselves. This creates a reciprocation - favor that has been passed down over generations.
As I explored advantageous human traits that has been passed down over eons like: reciprocation, doubt avoidance, pain avoidance, over-optimism, social proof, and excessive self-regard, I realized it would be more effective to break down for deeper explanation in upcoming writings.
Conclusion
These mental models are helpful to understand complexity of world, wherein many different complex issue intertwine to create a problem, so , to better understand, the reality. First, One should have curious mind, to doubt and inquire everything - not just why things are happening, but also what are the subconscious influence that is causing one to act or think as they do.
Furthermore, one should not learn the isolate facts and bang’em back like in high school then empty them out as though you are emptying bathtub. Rather, one should understand, implement, and be able to connect interrelation of different ideas to problem in ever-used repertoire; Finally, like gardening the weed, one should not attempt to remove all bad herbs at a time. Instead, one bedding at a time, and having accomplished first, proceed to second.
Thus, to overcome the fallcies, I would be posting my series of mental models through my understanding in upcoming blog.