What I read
The author’s grandparents with their new ’72 Ford Thunderbird.
_______________________________________
My response
I came across this article from The New York Times Magazine website. At first glance, I was quite interested in the word 'purpose' which is also reminded me of others words such as 'goals' the question that comes up to my mind was 'what people would look like if there is no purpose?'. I am kind of the person who has purposes in every period of my life. My goals always change as many do. Having skimmed the article, it also reminds me of one of my long-unanswered questions- where does the purpose come from?
P. Carter gives an example of why universal operates well without purpose. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy which refers to the idea of everything in the universe moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change. The physical disorder is all about equilibrium, everything resting randomly and uniformly. Human is a very complicated collection of many particles, they are more becoming more disorderly with time, this is just saying that entropy increase. Every difference between the past and the future will be ultimately be traced to the face that the entropy was low in the past and is growing. The universe was orderly, and it is becoming more disorderly.
The surprising thing is that the universe was ever low entropy at the beginning. The universe began in a highly ordered state. So modern cosmologists are trying to understand why the early universe was in such precise state? why was it so low entropy? P. Carter points that there is no purpose in this process because "Entropy is antagonistic to intrinsic" which is a disorder. He also refers to Sean Carroll, a prominent cosmologist, he says "meaning and purpose aren't built into the architecture of the universe". It springs from our longing for the permanence in an ever-changing universe; It is a reaction to the universe's indifference to us. I think that our stories serve as directives for the ways we want the world to exist.
"Purpose indexes the world's impermanence, namely our own" The article also shows a vivid example that makes me more understand the idea of it. He gives an example of his grandfather's car which will function well as transportation, but that goal only makes sense as an enduring reminder of the stories and memories of his grandfather. One day we will die, his car will decay along with everything in the universe as many things we 're made of return to the inert state in which everything began. Entropy demands this kind of process
P. Carter gives an example of why universal operates well without purpose. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy which refers to the idea of everything in the universe moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change. The physical disorder is all about equilibrium, everything resting randomly and uniformly. Human is a very complicated collection of many particles, they are more becoming more disorderly with time, this is just saying that entropy increase. Every difference between the past and the future will be ultimately be traced to the face that the entropy was low in the past and is growing. The universe was orderly, and it is becoming more disorderly.
The surprising thing is that the universe was ever low entropy at the beginning. The universe began in a highly ordered state. So modern cosmologists are trying to understand why the early universe was in such precise state? why was it so low entropy? P. Carter points that there is no purpose in this process because "Entropy is antagonistic to intrinsic" which is a disorder. He also refers to Sean Carroll, a prominent cosmologist, he says "meaning and purpose aren't built into the architecture of the universe". It springs from our longing for the permanence in an ever-changing universe; It is a reaction to the universe's indifference to us. I think that our stories serve as directives for the ways we want the world to exist.
"Purpose indexes the world's impermanence, namely our own" The article also shows a vivid example that makes me more understand the idea of it. He gives an example of his grandfather's car which will function well as transportation, but that goal only makes sense as an enduring reminder of the stories and memories of his grandfather. One day we will die, his car will decay along with everything in the universe as many things we 're made of return to the inert state in which everything began. Entropy demands this kind of process
_______________________________________
My question for readers
Do you agree with this statement 'the universe operate well without purpose'? Why? and Why not?
_______________________________________
- P. Carter, J. (2017, July 31). The Universe Doesn’t Care About Your ‘Purpose’. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/opinion/the-universe-doesnt-care-about-your-purpose.html
- [minutephysics]. (2011, November 13). The Arrow of Time feat. Sean Carroll. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdTMuivYF30&vl=en
Purpose, in my opinion, will only matter with living things because it links with mind. Things don't have mind (as far as I know). The Universe is a thing, therefore, I would rather agree with the statement.
ReplyDeleteI think purpose is what make us feel valuable to continue on our life. I could not imagine my live without purpose. It would feel empty and useless. Purpose make me stronger and want to do things better. Every step of my life, I do have purpose.
As I was reading Stamp's post, I kept thinking of Jean Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, who worked in this area last century, and back further to thinkers like Nietzsche who helped us get a stronger understanding of these things. In fact, I'd been thinking of rereading Sartre's short novel Nausea, and this is one more push for that purpose, although as usual there are a few other things I'd also like to read, including Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, although I'm beginning to suspect it might be seriously overrated, like Dan Brown's truly awful but wildly popular The da Vinci Code. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteBut getting back to the purpose of Stamp's post, I was also reminded of Sam Harris, whose work on free will has contributed to the modern rebirth of the ancient Epicurean idea that there is no such thing as free will, an idea most beautifully set forth in the long poem de rerum natura by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius more than 2,000 years ago. Lucretius was brilliant, but the modern versions have the benefit of solid scientific support as they prove that free will is an illusion.
Now, it's time I chose to finish my morning coffee and look at what we will be doing in class this morning. And I think the matter making up my brain is also going to make me decide to check a couple of essays that arrived late last night. Such decisions fit well with the purpose that my brain's matter generates to keep me moving.
I quite agree with the statement "the universe operate well without purpose" because universe is nature. The nature does not need any purpose for the movement and action. It just operate automatically.
ReplyDeleteBut organism like us need purpose to be the reason of every action. In my opinion, purpose means the reason or the goal of our action. If we do not have a purpose, we would not do that thing. Moreover, non living things that we create also have a purpose but they are the purpose of the person who make it. Objects are products that produce by our purpose. For example, the purpose that the cars moving is not because it want to move. It is the purpose of the creator that want it to move.