The Entropic Law of Happiness

I am patiently waiting for things to improve. I don't mind admitting, however, that happiness scares me. A few days ago – while driving to meet a friend – I formulated a new law of nature. It's called the Entropic Law of Happiness. It's based on the concept of entropy. Entropy is defined as an increase in the disorganization of the universe. In other words, as the universe ages it become less and less organized. Although the total amount of energy in the universe remains constant (the conservation of energy) the amount of usable energy declines. Every increase in organization in one part of the universe (life, for instance) must be accompanied by a slightly disproportionate decrease in organization elsewhere in the universe.

What I've done is apply the concept of entropy to the field of human emotions and their manifestation in the world. The Entropic Law of Happiness states that each instance of happiness in the world must be accompanied by a slightly disproportionate instance of unhappiness somewhere else in the world. Included within the framework of my law is the German idea of schadenfreude (roughly translated as “happiness at the misfortune of others”). In my system, however, there is no cause and effect relationship between the two manifestations. The people who are happy are not necessarily causing the unhappiness of others, nor are they happy because others around them are unhappy (although either possibility could be the case). It's a statistical law, not a mechanical one.

All of the above means one thing: AT ANY ONE TIME, ONLY SO MANY PEOPLE CAN BE HAPPY. By extension, it could be argued that within one life only so many hours can be happy ones. Maybe that’s why I always feel a little uneasy -- and a little guilty -- when things are going well. I worry that I'm using up my quota of happy hours too quickly. "After joy. . .sorrow." Emily Dickinson saw a connection between joy and pain and I think she was right:

For each ecstatic instant 

We must an anguish pay 

In keen and quivering ratio

To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour 

Sharp pittances of years, 

Bitter contested farthings 

And coffers heaped with tears.

This isn't exactly a confirmation of my law, but it is testimony that other minds – at least on occasion – have had similar thoughts. I don't know; maybe I'm just being pretentious.