Order and Chaos
Everything in the Universe irreversibly moves one way, from order to disorder (chaos). In other words, the second law of thermodynamics (entropy always increases) applies to cosmology (things of the grandest scale), quantum physics (things of the tiniest scale), and everything in between, — including human societies.
The marvel of human ingenuity lies in the ability to harness energy from the process of order turning into chaos for productive use. Most obvious examples are the steam and internal combustion engines, whereby immense heat generated (a chaotic condition) is used to turn pistons, axles, and wheels. Nuclear reactors and the latest experimental hydrogen fusion machine are even more dramatic examples of intentional creation of chaos in order to harness energy. Harnessed and controlled energy is the lifeblood for human existence on earth, itself a tiny pocket of order in an otherwise chaotic (and hostile) cosmos of immense uncontrolled energy.
In these endeavors, responsible engineers exercise extraordinary care in the design and test of every new order of theirs before release, often subject to stringent regulatory oversight. The marketplace is the ultimate judge of the new order. If it lacks merit in utility or quality, further creation of chaos for its production will cease.
Leaders of men/women try to harness human energy during societal chaos for productive use as well. Just like engineers, they often incite/create chaos for this very purpose. Chaos, therefore, is the transition mechanism from one socio/politico/economic order to another. Put another way, if an existing socio/politico/economic order is beyond evolving, then revolution (always chaotic and destructive) becomes the last resort to a new order.
Not all things new are better, of course. Too often, the ruling elite abuse their positions to incite chaos as means to self-serving — even evil — ends. Unlike engineers, they are not subject to oversight of their design or implementation. The “marketplace” is in no position to judge or reject their creation because they control both the deeds and minds (through narratives) of those over whom they rule. They have thus harnessed energy to destructive use, creating a worse socio/politico/economic order.
Good or bad, order requires structure. At the heart of that structure is information. Beautifully woven fabric was the order in 18th century France. Joseph-Marie Jacquard’s spectacular weaving loom was the structure which produced that fabric. The punch cards contained the necessary information (instructions) for the loom to do its thing. (Contrary to popular misconception, information is not the same as data. Data can be externalized but the essence of information is embedded instructions — i.e. programmable algorithms — on what to do. Limitless algorithms is what allows the incorporation of ever more functions — phone, camera, text, recording, etc. — onto a modern smartphone. On a much grander scale, a supercomputer can be instructed to simulate the birth and death of our entire Universe, — which we can never otherwise witness in our natural lives.)
Human-created information pales by comparison to the unimaginably vast amount of information contained in countless physical phenomena in the Universe. When physicist debate whether information can escape a black hole, they're not referring to Instagram selfies but the details of activities in and out of that black hole. Those details, and indeed all information, are not just descriptions of physical reality but an integral part of it, by virtue of the media which store and transmit information.
With that framework, now imagine a weaving loom with flawed punch cards, or a modern smartphone with flawed algorithms. They would produce “disorder” or chaos. In other words, faulty information renders the structure itself dysfunctional and the order it produces unworthy. This very much describes the current world order, — typical of a Fourth Turning. More worrisome are suspicions, held by more than just fringe lunatics, of the ruling elite steering us towards a new world order that is even more horrifying.
Great scientific and engineering minds have toiled over centuries to prolong earth’s miraculous existence, against all odds, as a tiny pocket of order in an otherwise chaotic (and hostile) cosmos. The ruling elite (politicians and bureaucrats doing the bidding of their corporate masters, most notably bankers) have been working even harder to speed up earth's destruction in a cosmos destined for destruction anyway.
So what can be done to change this trajectory? I think the structures (systems of governance and legal frameworks) of free and developed Western countries are still sound, but the information (narratives, policies, financial markets, values, even decorum) that operate within them are FUBAR (F’d Up Beyond All Repair). It started with the death of independent journalism, — the watchdog for misdeed by the ruling elite and challenger/whistleblower of false narratives. Today's “journalists” are but obscenely overpaid “press-titutes” dutifully sensationalizing prescribed scripts. Consumers of such “journalism” mistake propaganda for news and think/act (including vote) accordingly, furthering disinformation, thus physical reality. As well, in the absence of well-researched and fact-checked professional journalism, divisive Op-eds in the social media “Wild West” quickly destroy social cohesion. To change the current trajectory, independent professional journalism — the purveyor of truth rather than propaganda — must first be restored as mainstream. (This is no different than saying the smart phone itself is a sound structure but for an app to run properly on it, the programmer must first be told the correct — rather than faulty — algorithm.)
Only then can zombified “sheeple” be turned back in mass into intelligent thinkers and voters, — the prerequisite for orderly free societies. Truth is what allows intelligent thinkers and voters to identify and challenge the sleight of hands, a “practice of the trade” by those in power. Absent that, information — thus reality itself — gets cumulatively distorted and the second law of thermodynamics takes over, — order naturally devolves into chaos. (We haven’t noticed any chaos in societies around the world these days, have we?)
Niccolò Machiavelli, in his Florentine Histories, wrote: “Virtue gives birth to tranquility, tranquility to leisure, leisure to disorder, disorder to ruin… and similarly from ruin, order is born, from order virtue, from virtue, glory and good fortune.” Let’s hope the mass finds and follows truth amidst ruin as the guiding light to establishing new order for the next First Turning.
