Entropies and the Anthropocene crisis

Maël Montévil (1, 2)

1 IHPST - Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques
2 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes

The contemporary Anthropocene crisis is frequently described as the rarefaction of resources or resources per capita. However, both energy and minerals correspond to fundamentally conserved quantities from a physical perspective. A specific concept is required to understand the rarefaction of these resources. This concept, entropy, pertains to the configurations of energy and matter and not just to their sheer amount. However, the physical concept of entropy is insufficient to understand biological and social organizations. Biological phenomena display both historicity and more synchronic, systemic properties. The concept of anti-entropy stems from the combination of these aspects. We propose that many vulnerabilities of living entities to the changes of the Anthropocene pertain to anti-entropy. They correspond to the entropization of anti-entropy, that is, a loss of organization. They can also be the disruption of anti-entropy production, that is to say, the loss of the ability to produce functional novelties.

Mots clés: entropy; anti-entropy; resources; organization; disruption; Anthropocene

Domaines: Autre [q-bio.OT]; Mécanique statistique [cond-mat.stat-mech]; Biodiversité et Ecologie; Environnement et Société; Milieux et Changements globaux; Neurosciences; Psychologie; Ecosystèmes; Santé

Maël Montévil. Entropies and the Anthropocene crisis. AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication, In press. ⟨hal-02398756v3⟩