<video><title>Observational Dynamics: 2 The Significance of Entropy</title><description>Observational Dynamics is a new theory of observation that models the observer and their environment as active, dynamic systems of information and entropy exchange. This podcast explores OD, its thermodynamic roots and how it works, and delves into the various implications of this exciting new scientific theory.  Learn more about Observational Dynamics: https://www.reddit.com/r/ObservationalDynamics Read the academic paper here: https://www.academia.edu/106678853/Observational_Dynamics</description><transcript><transcript><line from="00:00:00,000" to="00:00:05,600">Introduction. Welcome back to the observational dynamics podcast.</line><line from="00:00:06,960" to="00:00:11,920">In our first episode, we introduced the core concepts and motivation behind this new model of</line><line from="00:00:11,920" to="00:00:17,760">perception based in physics and information theory. Today I want to dive deeper into the crucial</line><line from="00:00:17,760" to="00:00:24,400">role of entropy in the OD framework. Understanding entropy is key to grasping how observational</line><line from="00:00:24,400" to="00:00:29,280">dynamics provides a unifying perspective across different fields and systems in our universe.</line><line from="00:00:30,160" to="00:00:35,040">There are some profound implications here, so buckle up for an exciting ride. What is entropy?</line><line from="00:00:35,040" to="00:00:41,200">So what does entropy actually mean? In physics, it's a measure of disorder and uncertainty in a system.</line><line from="00:00:42,320" to="00:00:47,600">Things tend to degrade from order to disorder over time. This is known as the thermodynamic</line><line from="00:00:47,600" to="00:00:54,960">arrow of time linked to entropy. In information theory, entropy is quantified in bits and represents</line><line from="00:00:54,960" to="00:01:01,920">the amount of surprise or unexpectedness in some data or message. The higher the entropy,</line><line from="00:01:01,920" to="00:01:08,320">the more unpredictable it is. We can contrast entropy with energy, which is the potential</line><line from="00:01:08,320" to="00:01:14,320">capacity to do useful work. Entropy opposes that order and absorbable energy.</line><line from="00:01:15,840" to="00:01:21,680">Entropy is universal driver. lately there's been a growing view that instead of minimizing</line><line from="00:01:21,680" to="00:01:28,560">entropy, systems seem adapted to maximize entropy production. Counter-intuitively, increasing</line><line from="00:01:28,560" to="00:01:34,720">total disorder seems to enable localized order and complexity to alert certain systems from</line><line from="00:01:34,720" to="00:01:41,120">cells to neural networks. It's like they leverage gradients and flows of entropy to self-organize.</line><line from="00:01:42,080" to="00:01:48,240">Structure arises spontaneously out of disorderly conditions. So in a way, entropy drives development</line><line from="00:01:48,240" to="00:01:55,200">even as it broadly disrupts organization. Subjective experiences in entropy. This brings us to a</line><line from="00:01:55,200" to="00:02:01,200">core proposal of observational dynamics that our subjective experience as conscious observers</line><line from="00:02:01,200" to="00:02:07,520">relates to pockets of locally reduced entropy or in a entropy that allow us to model and predict</line><line from="00:02:07,520" to="00:02:13,760">useful patterns about the world. Our minds self-organize to effectively absorb entropy from the</line><line from="00:02:13,840" to="00:02:18,800">environment and dissipate it in ways that empower us to sustain and grow our potentials.</line><line from="00:02:19,760" to="00:02:22,960">Perception is literally the extraction of order from disorder.</line><line from="00:02:26,000" to="00:02:30,880">Implications for consciousness. If consciousness does relate to internal pools of</line><line from="00:02:30,880" to="00:02:37,680">negentropy, this suggests some profound ideas. First, that consciousness is inherent in any</line><line from="00:02:37,680" to="00:02:44,320">system that accumulates and productively recycles potentials. Teleology, purposeful activity</line><line from="00:02:44,320" to="00:02:50,160">emerges from these thermodynamic flows. It also means we can't categorically separate quantum</line><line from="00:02:50,160" to="00:02:56,160">and classical domains. The symmetry of dynamics matters more than physical scale when considering</line><line from="00:02:56,160" to="00:03:04,800">the emergence of awareness. Challenges with entropy. Of course, there are open questions and</line><line from="00:03:04,800" to="00:03:10,800">challenges around quantifying entropy, especially for cognitive systems where we lack neat mathematics.</line><line from="00:03:12,560" to="00:03:16,720">Connecting entropy to specific neural structures and signals precisely remain</line><line from="00:03:16,720" to="00:03:22,720">difficult. There are also debates around whether maximizing entropy production causes complexity</line><line from="00:03:23,680" to="00:03:31,360">or just correlates with it due to other factors. Disentangling causation will require more research</line><line from="00:03:31,440" to="00:03:38,080">the future of entropy. But the prospects are exciting. With concepts like self-organized</line><line from="00:03:38,080" to="00:03:43,680">criticality, we are beginning to model how balancing order and disorder governs behavior across</line><line from="00:03:43,680" to="00:03:50,480">physical, biological, and even social systems. New experiments can probe entropy in perception</line><line from="00:03:50,480" to="00:03:56,880">and consciousness. For observational dynamics, entropy lies at the very heart of the quest</line><line from="00:03:56,880" to="00:04:01,920">toward a scientific model integrating subjective experience with physical dynamics.</line><line from="00:04:01,920" to="00:04:05,760">It points to our principles that could reach shape our technological world,</line><line from="00:04:05,760" to="00:04:11,920">just as thermodynamics did during the industrial revolution. But this time, by embracing the mind</line><line from="00:04:11,920" to="00:04:19,280">rather than leaving it aside. Conclusion There are so many dimensions to entropy</line><line from="00:04:19,280" to="00:04:24,960">and we only scratched the surface today. I hope this episode provided a meaningful glimpse into</line><line from="00:04:24,960" to="00:04:29,600">how OD leverages entropy to work toward a unified scientific framework.</line><line from="00:04:30,480" to="00:04:36,400">Please reach out with your thoughts and reactions. Next time we'll explore OD's power to integrate</line><line from="00:04:36,400" to="00:04:41,280">perspectives across different fields. Until then, stay curious, my friends.</line></transcript></transcript></video>