Ten Characteristics of Entropy in Society and How to Adapt to Them

Entropy in a societal context can refer to the notion of disorder or unpredictability that arises within social systems over time. This concept, borrowed from thermodynamics, which measures disorder or randomness in a physical system, can be applied metaphorically to understand social change, complexity, and the challenges of maintaining order in societies. We can use the history of Kowloon as a great example:

Kowloon’s history is rich and complex, involving periods of imperial Chinese rule, British colonial administration, and eventual incorporation into the modern city of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City, originally a Chinese military fort, became notorious as a haven for crime, unlicensed medical practices, and overcrowding, reflecting an extreme example of urban entropy. With its maze-like alleyways, lack of sanitation, and virtually absent government control, the Walled City was a study of spontaneous, unplanned urban development.

The entropic view might focus on how, despite or perhaps because of these conditions, the Walled City developed its internal systems of order. Informal community rules, economies, and social structures emerged to govern life without external legal or political order. This perspective would also explore the eventual demolition of the Walled City in the early 1990s and the…