THEORY: "Knowledge is anti-entropic" -Reply
Jonathan Sanford (mailto:JSANFORD@CRS.LOC.GOV)
Mon, 10 Feb 1997 15:16:01 -0500
Message-ID: <s2ff3c74.074@crs.loc.gov>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 15:16:01 -0500
From: Jonathan Sanford <mailto:JSANFORD@CRS.LOC.GOV>
Subject: THEORY: "Knowledge is anti-entropic" -Reply
To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Dear Steve,
I don't like to base intellectual analysis on Gilder, since I am skeptical of
many of his analyses and arguments. But I agree that knowledge and ideas
can overcome--at least in the area of economics--the apparent effects of
"entropy". I think "entropy" is a metaphor in economics for the idea that more
material is used up producing something than is embodied in the final useful
product. From a physical standpoint, that is true. But not from a value
standpoint, and the latter is more important in economics than the former. My
deepest objection to the previous discussion was the implication that the
problems are so great and the trend so deterministic that we cannot do
anything to help poorer countries and we should just let the megadeath come
to wipe the slate clean. I found that conclusion to be very relevant to the
development orientation of this list. Jon Sanford