Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Fast Entropy, PHE And Psychohistory
PHE - Physical History and Economics - is an attempt to derive social science from physics. Researcher Mark Ciotola hopes that, just as the laws of physics are invariant, a unified science of society would allow the analysis of any society across human experience.
This means that fast entropy can be utilized as Astronomers have gravity to hold together their universe. Fast entropy provides the social sciences with a unifying tendancy for social phenomena, or literally a social "gravity". Just as there is more to the universe than gravity, many other field such as psychology, economics, sociology, history, chemistry and biology bear upon PHE as well. PHE does not replace traditional social sciences, but rather provides a unifying framework.
If you're thinking that this idea sounds like Isaac Asimov's psychohistory from his 1951 novel Foundation, you're not the only one. The creative force behind PHE, American physical economist and professor of law Mark Ciotola, wrote this about Asimov's Foundation series:
There are several tremendous differences, most of which are because psychohistory focuses on mathematics and psychology, while PHE focuses on thermodynamics.
Psychohistory is constrained by the assumption that the response of populations to certain stimuli remains constant. Although this is a factor that PHE needs to account for, it is not PHE’s chief constraint. PHE assumes that the behavior of entire populations is constrained by laws of thermodynamics and related physical principles. In PHE, it is assumed that populations will tend to respond to thermodynamic opportunities and limitations in a roughly similar manner. PHE can be further constrained in terms of critical resources.
To learn more about Fast Entropy and PHE, take a look at Physical History and Economics (pdf) and the PHE and Fast Entropy research site. Other approaches to the topic are provided at these previous articles, Asimov's Psychohistory May Be Possible, Cliodynamics: Modeling Complex Societies Mathematically and TASC - DARPA's Psychohistory.
PHE is enabled by the thermodynamic Fast Entropy approach. Simply put, fast entropy states that systems tend to configure themselves to maximixe the RATE of entropy production. Mathematically-speaking, Fast Entropy states that entropy production is subject to the Principle of Least Time. Life, intelligence and civilization are viewed as faster paths to a higher level of entropy. Fast Entropy can also be called the e th Law of Thermodynamics due to its strengthening of the Second Law and because it drives exponential growth.
Perhaps the greatest similarity is that both psychohistory and PHE invoke a statistical approach. Both approaches are much better at modeling the actions of very large groups of people rather than the actions of small groups or individuals. Hence, the actions of individuals cannot reliably be forecast, but the path of large societies can be more reliably forecast. Forecasts in both approaches are more properly expressed in probabilities than deterministically. PHE has not yet advanced to the accuracy attributed to psychohistory in the Foundation series.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/2/2011)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...' - Jack Vance, 1967.
California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone
'... every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions.' John Brunner, 1975.
Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half
blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.' - Kurt Vonnegut, 1961.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict Bistable Displays Like E-Ink?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
