Everything decays without constant energy input
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that entropy always increases in closed systems. Order decays into disorder. Structures crumble. Organization dissolves into chaos.
This isn't pessimism — it's physics. A sandcastle erodes. A car rusts. A building crumbles. Maintaining order requires constant energy input. Without it, decay is inevitable.
Institutions, like all systems, tend toward disorder. Corruption isn't a moral failure; it's the thermodynamic default. Without constant vigilance and energy input (accountability, transparency, enforcement), institutions decay.
A central bank begins with a noble mission: stabilize prices, ensure full employment. But over time, without external accountability, incentives drift. Power concentrates. Rules bend. The institution serves itself.
This happens everywhere: governments, corporations, universities, even charities. The pattern is universal:
Year 0: Pure mission, strong principles, public trust.
Year 20: Internal politics emerge, rules stretch, minor compromises.
Year 50: Original mission forgotten, self-preservation dominates, corruption normalized.
Year 100: Complete capture by special interests. The institution exists to perpetuate itself.
People in institutions prioritize the institution's survival over its stated mission. The longer an institution exists without external constraints, the more it serves insiders rather than outsiders.
Watch three institutions decay over time without accountability. See how entropy affects trust, rules, and integrity as years pass.
Without external accountability, institutions inevitably decay. Integrity drops as entropy increases. Applying accountability (transparency, immutable rules, public verification) slows or reverses decay. Bitcoin achieves permanent accountability through code — no human discretion required.
To resist entropy, a money system would need to encode resistance into its rules, not rely on human vigilance. The rules would be immutable. No central authority could inflate supply. No institution could override the consensus.
The system would continuously verify compliance. If you violate the rules, your transaction gets rejected. No appeals process. No emergency powers. No "this time is different."
It would maintain order not through energy-intensive human oversight, but through elegant incentive alignment. Entropy cannot corrupt what humans cannot change.
Replace corruptible institutions with incorruptible code. The Second Law still applies, but the system would be designed so that maintaining integrity costs less energy than breaking it. Make honesty the thermodynamically efficient path.
Later in this path, you'll discover how this theoretical system became reality. For now, understand the physics: entropy destroys all centralized institutions. Any lasting system must resist it structurally, not through human effort.
Test your understanding with interactive reflections. Get immediate feedback on your thinking.
What's the main reason we continue using corruptible institutions?
Can human institutions eliminate corruption permanently?
Select all the features that would help resist institutional decay: