Poem context:
I've studied entropy (Boltzmann's second law of thermodynamics, 1874), 'What is Life?' (by Schrödinger, 1944), and 'Informavores' (by Miller, 1983), aiming to understand intelligence and information. Entropy drives disorder in closed systems like the universe, inevitably leading towards chaos. However, life seems to defy this trend. It creates and organizes, using DNA information to maintain internal order.
Life embodies entropy; organisms consume low-entropy (organized) food and produce high-entropy (disorganized) waste. This consumption provides them with free energy to maintain internal order and create new structures.
Life also embodies information; information encoded in DNA guides life's processes. Evolution of organisms is a means through which information is maintained, allowing DNA to store, transmit, and transform information over generations.
This leads me to wonder: does intelligence, such as the human mind, rely on consuming and processing low-entropy information to maintain its coherence? Miller (1983) suggests yes, defining humans as informavores—organisms that consume information. However, further exploration of this intriguing question is necessary.
I wrote a lengthy text to explain all of this, but it took forever to finish. So, I reflected on my existence with entropy and life while drinking coffee every day. The poem was born.
by Hoang Long, 28/06/2024
Beneath,
early morning greenery,
I sit, serene: “One black coffee, no sugar, please.”
Crowds rush by, bustling like ants.
Cup in hand, I inhale its aroma,
Turning the news, sipping slowly,
Today’s headline: “We are going to die!
due to the second law of thermodynamics.”
Physicists wrote: "Ice melts, merging within my exact cup.
Evidence of the universe’s relentless decay.
Dissolving cosmos into equilibrium,
The maximum chaos.
I swallow,
A mouthful of coffee.
The cup sweats, droplets drip,