Entropy and Optimization: Yin and Yang

All my life, I have always been optimized to seek optimization. Taking shortcuts to and fro school, using the almighty formula to solve quadratic equations (as opposed to completing the squares), and paying a cheaper bus fare by lapping a fellow student are some of the many actions I have taken to optimize some parts of my life.

My research paper on automating timetable scheduling using genetic algorithms pulls me into a world full of varying optimizations. My research cuts through studying P and NP problems, machine learning algorithms whose eventual goal is to optimize.

Entropy is everywhere. The world is built and programmed on chaos. From the Big Bang down to the cluster of traffic jams in the nearby streets.

Chasing optimizations leads to more chaos ironically. We can’t do with just chaos; we need to optimize some aspects of our daily lives. Nor can we do with just optimizations. They both go hand-in-hand in making the world a better place.

Yin Yang