Reality, a Closed or Open System in the Social Imagination...

 

I was recently was having a 'coffee table' discussion about entropy and the concept of the universe being an open or closed system came up. Most people think that a closed system is a system in the state of being self contained... with no way in and no way to exist it. 

But, that's not entirely true especially since we can imagine that there is a way in and even a way out and that there is something outside of it. In such imagination, one could, in fact, imagine that just by doing so (imagining) is another aspect of a closed system in which the social imagination exists. And, thus, an open system is just imaginary as a closed system.  Or maybe its just the other way around.

 

Let's liken it to that of the Russian doll with one doll inside another doll and so on. You can also make the argument that since no one tell if the universe is being affected from an outside source or other universe or dimension, then it can be concluded a closed system.

Effectively, there exists no space or time outside of the universe that we could know since the way we understand the universe is based on how we experience it as a system and in saying that... we can only experience a closed system because it has limitations that are visible and experienced in time and space that we understand though we may never know it in its entirety.  

The universe is open if it is affected by something outside of it. But again, how could you or I tell if it were being affected by something outside of it unless you could go outside of it. Sure, we can say that we have found some kind of particle or wave or graviton or unusual occurrence in what we assume to be our stable closed system, but rather it is part of the very same system.

I think most people define the universe as a closed system, though a few people don't. As a sociologist, I am more curious as to why there is even a discussion as to whether or not the universe is a closed or open system.

An open system is only imagined as something that could be. Interestingly, the very instance that we care to contemplate it... it becomes closed. That's because we do live in a closed system. But, some suggest its enough to consider it. Its open because we have to mind or ability to recognize it as a possibility; wherein, an external force has access to it via a closed system...  in order that we might engage the open system.. which simultaneously suggests that the closed system though not actually ‘closed off’ and hence this open system. Therefore, an open system is only accessible via a closed system in the social imagination if that makes any sense.   

We could then suppose that an open system is actually a closed system with doors and when they open we notice something has changed but we are not sure what or why or by what forces other than supposing someone opened a door. Perhaps, that means there is an external force, another aspect of our closed system but of a higher dimensional nature, or perhaps a Creator.  

Fundamentally, we must acknowledge that a closed system simply means a recognizable thing that has for its own good a set of laws/rules and or principles. If we lived in a closed system whether or not it has a time limit doesn't mean we live in an open system. A closed system means that a thing is framed out by certain features/attributes/rules/principles etc. 

 

Those features/attributes etc. can be maintained by set principles or equations built in or along with time and space so that interactions use up and also produce energy in the using up mode. For most people, time and space appear to us in a linear fashion and that certainly doesn't mean we live in an open system at all... but that we may, in fact, live in a strange 'closed' looping system.

At least we have the Second Law of Thermodynamics to keep us sane as it states that in a closed system exists entropy so that any loop may sooner or later come to an end. What is entropy? Many say it is the state of order to disorder. But, can we find that truth here and now? Sure, its visible in many aspects of the universe and in nature. One can consider that the human body is in perfect ‘order’ when born or even before it is born and upon entering this so called space of reality, it begins immediately to move toward disorder. For me, a closed system contains entropy for a purpose because a closed system has 'natural' laws/boundaries... including both a startup and rebooting. 

In an open system, is there a real beginning or end to it in the social imagination? I don't think we could ever know that since we are obviously embedded in a closed system or maybe we could say we are embedded in an open system making it appear closed. In any case, would entropy stop or cease to exist in taking that position? We really cannot know that unless we give up the idea of a start up and reboot. In an open system by definition, we would be so loosely associated and blended that one thing would not know another thing as a thing in itself. Its all open to interpretation. As far as I know, we don't live in such a system.