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Jing Chen Thermo Link Research 808- 8871 Lansdowne Road, Richmond, BC. V6X 3X8. Canada Tel: 1-604-270-3307 Fax: 1-604-267-1327 Email: thermo_link@yahoo.com First draft: November, 2001 Revise: April, 2002
This paper can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=303500
The detailed comments from Ted Creese and Jens Joerg Lauschke greatly improve the quality of this paper.
Keywords: entropy; information; human behavior; sexual selection; natural selection; instinct JEL Categories: A1, D8, Q4,
ago. For the system of communication to be successful in different kinds of environments over such a long time, the mode of communication has to be simple, stable and universal. Since the entropy law is the most universal law of the nature, it is natural that the display of low entropy levels evolves as the universal signal of attractiveness in the process of sexual selection. Since information is negative entropy and informational entropy is equivalent to physical entropy, (Shannon, 1948; Bennett, 1988) a state of high information content is equivalent to a state of low physical entropy. Indeed the low entropy state is the main way of advertisement for most sexually reproducing species. Large body size, colorful and highly complex feather patterns with large amount of information content and exotic structures are all different representations of low entropy states. Since a low probability event corresponds to a state of low entropy, a novel feature is often attractive in the competition for reproduction. It has been generally recognized that sexual selection is the main drive of diversity. (Miller, 2000) Besides communication with members of the opposite sex, social animals need to communicate their attractiveness and power in order to influence the behavior of others. (Wilson, 1975) For the same reason as in sexual selection, the most general signal is low entropy. Among all social species, human beings have developed the most complex social structure. The creation of distinct art works, the demonstration of athletic prowess, the accumulation of wealth, and conspicuous consumption - all of which represent different forms of low entropy - are the major methods of advertising ones attractiveness. As the social groups become larger and the division of labor becomes finer, people become less familiar with each other in their daily interactions, which make it more difficult for people to judge the ability of others. The need for people to advertise their attractiveness through external accumulation of low entropy also becomes stronger. people usually signal their capability by buying more expensive houses, cars, clothes, going to more expensive restaurants and attending more exclusive schools. The great efforts human beings put into non-food activities reflect the high cost of communication in a large and complex society. Historical evidences show that the transaction costs have been increasing over time. (Wallis and North, 1986) 3. Concluding remarks Important problems often attract works from different fields. However, theories from different fields often offer sharply different opinions. For example, there is little consensus about the cause of population growth among economists, demographers and biologists. (Becker, 1993; Weeks, 1999; Hardin, 1993) Understanding that the same natural law governs both human and animal behaviors allows us to develop the common foundation of economics and biology from thermodynamic theory, which will help us utilize the insights developed from different disciplines systematically. (Chen, 2001)
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