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> Entropy is a measure of disorder. But what is disorder? What is order? There is no such thing. It is a personal preference.

I guess you're familiar with the following example: One container with two different gaseous substances in it, both 99,99 % pure, separated by a barrier. You open/remove the barrier and the gases will mix by diffusion.

By your personal definition of the word "disorder", these two situations (before and after opening the barrier) cannot be distinguished by the measure of disorder?

If you take two containers, one with blue lego parts, one with red lego parts and you pour both into a third container and shake it for a minute. It would align with your understanding of "disorder" to say: "The mixture of both blue and red has the exact same measure of disorder as when both colors were separate."?

Mike Dilger ☑️ 1y ago

I'm saying that disorder is defined by which states you feel are ordered. If you feel that having all one gas on one side and all another gas on the other is "ordered" then yes removing the barrier increases disorder. My point is that you had to choose a small set of possibilities and call it "ordered" which makes the notion of entropy partially subjective.

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Discussion

Viktor Vsk 1y ago

“A small set of possibilities” in that case is when you mix 2 lego boxes each with its own orders, mix it for a minute and get 2 layers one completely red and other one completely blue - thats what a small set of possibilities mean in this case

Otherwise probability is always 50/50 either yes or not