Something Something Entropy

[WAB]

It's called atrophy, for the love of Pete. A slew of so-called educated people who don't know basic vocabulary. Sheeesh.

I bet you even Poppa Puffed-up Pooh-bear knows that word.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

It's called atrophy, for the love of Pete. A slew of so-called educated people who don't know basic vocabulary. Sheeesh.

I bet you even Poppa Puffed-up Pooh-bear knows that word.

But I think he's trying to incorporate the loss of enthusiasm, not just a bumper rusting away.

 

[bilby]

It's called atrophy, for the love of Pete. A slew of so-called educated people who don't know basic vocabulary. Sheeesh.

I bet you even Poppa Puffed-up Pooh-bear knows that word.

Whadda ya want, a trophy?

 

[WAB]

It's called atrophy, for the love of Pete. A slew of so-called educated people who don't know basic vocabulary. Sheeesh.

I bet you even Poppa Puffed-up Pooh-bear knows that word.

Whadda ya want, a trophy?

Go fuck yourself, bilby

 

[Alcoholic Actuary]

I think the act of dedicating vast amounts of energy toward returning something back to normal functionality is called 'parenting'.

aa

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

Yeah! Just look at our home! Our issue is lack of storage for stuff!

We will get there.

That sounds like some kind of relation to Parkinson's Law: "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".

Or, in your case: "stuff expands so as to fill the space available for its storage". Boddington's Law?

 

[bilby]

Yeah! Just look at our home! Our issue is lack of storage for stuff!

We will get there.

That sounds like some kind of relation to Parkinson's Law: "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".

Or, in your case: "stuff expands so as to fill the space available for its storage". Boddington's Law?

"Stuff expands so as to exceed the space available for its storage".

 

[gmbteach]

It's called atrophy, for the love of Pete. A slew of so-called educated people who don't know basic vocabulary. Sheeesh.

I bet you even Poppa Puffed-up Pooh-bear knows that word.

Whadda ya want, a trophy?

Go fuck yourself, bilby

That’s my job!

 

[skepticalbip]

Stuff? Yeah, George knows about stuff.

 

[Underseer]

What's wrong with the second law of thermo?

The amount of energy available to do work decreases over time. That more or less discusses what you were talking about. Are you trying to remember a specific phrase you once heard?

It looks to me that bigfield (and please correct me if I'm wrong, bigfield) is looking for a word to refer to the decay of things in general; IOW, he's not looking for a scientific word? Or are you, bigfield?

To quote, from your OP:

bigfield: ...Whenever systems are first made/set up, they often start off working well and then slowly settle into a state of decay.

e.g.
- an office space that starts off clean, tidy and organised but gradually becomes dusty, cluttered and disorganised.
- a car that starts off shiny and smooth-running slowly succumbs to weather and engine wear.
- a business or government department starts off energetic and productive but develops redundant bureaucracy, resource shortages or poor service delivery.

Atrophy also refers to the natural decay of muscles, skin, organs, etc. As we all know. So why the need for a scientific term when a "folksy" term works?

Sorry if I am overstanding [the opposite of understanding, right?].

Yes. That's already covered by the second law of thermodynamics. Over time (in a closed system) the amount of energy available to do work goes down, so the amount of work done decreases. Thus, any processes that make things more ordered will ultimately fail and things ultimately become an inert jumble.