8. Energy, entropy, synergy, opposition, the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, life is a stream

Energy makes things happen. Nothing occurs without an expense of energy. The energy that you control includes your dedication, your motivation, your thoughts, your love, your emotion, your strength, and the skill, time, and care with which you approach your life and each task in your life.

Entropy is the concept that energy is dissipated, it is expended and never returns (it is used up). This is a sad view of reality, for it foresees the end of everything as all the energy that there is disappears.

Entropy occurs constantly, when energy (yours, mine) is poured into tasks that do not result in anything beneficial (good) for anyone. Entropy envisions reality as a black hole, sucking in all the energy of the universe: including yours and mine. One can easily see that thinking this way constantly could led one to depression. After all, if one's entire life is simply a draining away of one's energy, then it can really feel exhausting!

Synergy is the creation of energy when two or more people get together, cooperate and pool their energies. In this view, energy is created through the interaction of two or more energy consuming beings. For example, when a baseball team plays together, you have a combination of different skills. When that team is the NY Yankees, then you have synergy. Even though the Yankees have no single super-star, they play together so well as a team, the synergy they create together, allows them to win so much more than they lose!

The concept relies on the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is, of course, counter-intuitive. Ordinarily, we see the whole as, for example, a pie. It can be cut into pieces or served whole, but either way, it is the same amount, one pie.

But the Yankee players, taken one by on, do not add up to the team that the Yankees are when they play together. The Yankees do not lead the league in hits, runs, home runs, etc. But they do lead in wins. This is because the whole team, playing together, cooperating, as a team, can produce far greater results than if the individual team members were on their own.

Another way to consider this is to reject the notion that life (reality) is a pie, to be cut up and divided and then it is gone and to consider the idea that life (reality) is a stream. 

Each of us can dip into that stream for what we need when we need it, but the stream flows on. Unless people start damming up the stream or hording what they do not need to gain some advantage over others.

The concepts of entropy and synergy illustrate the idea of opposition. When you are thinking about things (defining your terms, for example) a useful approach is to think about the opposite. When defining 'good', we need an idea of 'bad'. when defining 'up' we need an idea of 'down'.

Words that have opposite meanings are called antonyms; words with similar meanings are called synonyms.

 

Back to Critical Thinking Skills   

 ENGLISH EXPRESS           COMPACT COLLEGE     

BACK TO TUTORING MAIN PAGE            

Copyright: 2004 English 4 All, Inc.