Entropy & Disorder

The Anti-Entropy Machine

The universe tilts toward chaos. This is the Second Law of Thermodynamics: in a closed system, entropy (disorder) always increases.

Buildings crumble. Tea goes cold. Rooms get messy.

Life is an anomaly. Life is a localized reversal of entropy.

Your brain is the most expensive anti-entropy machine in nature. It represents 2% of your body weight but consumes 20% of your glucose.

Why? Because order is expensive.

The Bioenergetic Crisis

We used to view mental illness as a "chemical imbalance" (serotonin, dopamine).

The emerging paradigm (from researchers like Dr. Chris Palmer and Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett) frames it as a Bioenergetic Crisis.

The brain runs on ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), produced by mitochondria.

Every thought, every repolarization of a neuron, requires an ATP transaction.

• Healthy State: Robust mitochondrial function provides enough energy to maintain the "Self-Model" and predict the world.
• Pathological State: When mitochondrial efficiency drops (due to inflammation, insulin resistance, or chronic stress), the brain initiates a "brownout." It begins to shut down non-essential functions.
• The PFC (high energy cost) goes offline first → Loss of impulse control, poor planning.
• The Amygdala (low energy cost) runs unchecked → Anxiety, vigilance.

The Free Energy Principle (FEP)

Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle suggests the brain has one primary goal: To minimize "Free Energy" (which we can think of as Surprise or Prediction Error).

The brain is a prediction engine. It maintains a model of the world.

• Low Entropy: The model works. You predict what will happen, and it happens. The world feels safe.
• High Entropy: The model fails. You predict safety, but get danger. You predict a paycheck, but get fired. This is Prediction Error.

Anxiety is simply the subjective experience of high entropy. It is the brain asking: Why is my map not matching the territory?

The Energetic Cost of Error

Processing Prediction Error is metabolically expensive.

When the world becomes unpredictable (trauma, poverty, rapid change), the brain must burn massive amounts of glucose to update its models.

If the energy demand exceeds the supply, you hit Allostatic Overload. The system crashes. We call this "breakdown."

The Inheritance of Perspective

We often view mental health struggles as moral failings or "weakness of character."

Thermodynamics suggests a different view: Use equates to wear.

If you run a high-performance engine at 7,000 RPM without refueling, it will fail. This is not a judgment; it is physics.

"Mental Health" is largely "Brain Health," and Brain Health is fundamentally Energy Management. You cannot think your way out of a fuel shortage.