On Chaos

There’s a thread in the Writer’s Group, titled Could a Fully Equalized Equestria Actually Function? and while it isn’t a thread I actually have anything noteworthy to contribute to, there’s an overcomplicated joke I can’t resist making:

1. If Equestria were to be completely equalized, that would mean it has reached heat death.
2. Which is a state of maximum entropy.
3. And maximum entropy is total and absolute chaos.
4. Which means Discord should be happy with it, even though everypony is dead and nothing amusing is ever likely to happen in the future.

Yeah, Discord might say that he is the “Lord of Chaos,” but he actually has nothing whatsoever to do with real chaos.

Comments

[Cursed Quill]

I have encountered a few stances on Discord, Entropy, and Chaos.

One is that heat death is just another manifestation of ultimate order. (See also: the fanon of his "no-kill" policy)

Another is that he is powered by entropy…but absorbs it, saving the rest of the world from such things.

[Oliver]

4305962

One is that heat death is just another manifestation of ultimate order. (See also: the fanon of his “no-kill” policy)

This whole thing turns up often when Nyarlathotep is mentioned, because every time “chaos” shows up in literature, it is depicted as anything but – a juxtaposition of ordered elements, which are still recognizable and are not at all atomic, rather than destruction of all actual ordering of matter and energy. (Demonbane’s bad endings come to mind, but it’s common…) It’s like chaos the writers are thinking of is directed not against all order, but against a particular order, on a particular, usually near-people size scale, and is fine with everything below that.

But that’s not quite Chaos chaos, is it? It’s some kind of alternative order… :)

Another is that he is powered by entropy…but absorbs it, saving the rest of the world from such things.

Now that is an interesting idea that I haven’t seen yet.

[Cursed Quill]

4305971
The recent story Rot, formerly just one chapter, apparently has another now, contains that idea.

[Oliver]

4305982

I did read it, but didn’t see that particular idea in it. Maybe it was because it distracted me with all the “omg everything is decaying how horrible,” because I honestly didn’t find that imagery particularly impressive.

[Cursed Quill]

4306001
I don't blame you; I'll pull out the relevant bits.

“Simply put Twilight, I use the energy of entropy
[…]
I steal the energy released from the rotting of creation, I bring new things into being. But most importantly I keep that energy from being lost to the void.”