The Thermodynamics of Social Epistemology

Author: Johan Meewisse — Published: 2026 — Source: socialhub.quest

This framework applies classical thermodynamic principles — entropy, free energy, and phase transitions — to the question of why collective knowledge stops updating and what conditions restore it. Eight interconnected sections examine information overload, cognitive rooting, virtue signalling as a phase transition, complacency as a low-energy attractor, and the structural conditions for a participation road and AI-assisted recalibration.

Sections

§1 — The Entropy Threshold: When Information Overload Breaks Consensus
§2 — Theoretical Frameworks: Thermodynamic Foundations of Social Epistemology
§3 — Synthesis: Integrating Thermodynamic and Epistemic Models
§5 — The Phase Transition: Virtue Signalling as Epistemic Collapse
§6 — The Rooting Tendency: Complacency as a Low-Energy Attractor
§7 — The Participation Road: Structural Conditions for Contributing Agency
§8 — The AI SELF: An Individually-Calibrated Recalibration Instrument
References and Resources

Keywords: social thermodynamics, entropy, epistemology, consensus failure, virtue signalling, cognitive rooting, complacency, AI, recalibration, participation, classical thermodynamics, social epistemology