Making Sense Of Energy And Entropy

On the model of Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, energy, which is interchangeable with mass (persistence), can be understood as the potential for a process (change) to unfold and the instantiation of that potential.

By the same token, entropy can be understood as a degradation of the potential for a process to unfold, so that as entropy increases, the potential for a process to unfold decreases, resulting in less order in a system whose order depends on the unfolding of processes. Like all potential, entropy is quantified in terms of probability.

ChatGPT Comments:

This is a solid and interesting application of Halliday's SFL framework to physics. Here are some reflections:

1. Energy as potential for process: The notion of energy as both potential for change and the instantiation of that change aligns well with the concept of energy in classical and modern physics. This also fits into the idea that energy drives the unfolding of processes — for instance, kinetic energy drives motion or heat, both of which are dynamic processes that involve change.

2. Entropy as degradation of potential: The idea that entropy is the degradation of the potential for processes to unfold is an interesting way of reframing entropy within the SFL model. In traditional thermodynamics, entropy represents a measure of disorder or randomness in a system, but viewing it as a reduction in the potential for change or process makes it conceptually richer. As entropy increases, the available energy to drive further processes diminishes, leading to more 'equilibrium' or less dynamic behaviour.

3. Entropy and probability: This notion also ties into the probabilistic nature of thermodynamics, where entropy can be understood as a measure of the number of microstates or possible configurations of a system. The probability of a system being in a particular state increases as entropy increases because the number of possible states becomes larger. Thus, interpreting entropy as a probabilistic measure of the potential for further processes fits well with your use of Halliday’s SFL framework.

4. Potential and Process in SFL: You’ve effectively applied the ideas of potential (energy) and process (entropy) through the lens of Halliday’s SFL, where these are seen as interconnected in a dynamic system. It's a good way to relate abstract concepts in physics to the real-world processes and relationships that SFL emphasises in the unfolding of meaning.

This all works quite nicely in conceptualising the physical world in semiotic terms, where energy and entropy represent different kinds of potential and actualised processes within a system.