“Entropy is conserved” – actually, the second law of thermodynamics clearly tells us that the entropy of a closed system increases. Entropy can be seen as a measure of disorder and systems tend to a greater state of disorder.

I am sure you must have been thinking of the first law of thermodynamics, which has to do with the conservation of mass and matter, to which Eisntein ammended E=MCsquared.

On entropy, for example, heat will flow from a hot surface to a cold, and in the process increase the entropy of the system. Heat will not spontanously flow from a cold surface to a hot surface, unless energy is applied (e.g. through an AC compressor) which in turn increases entropy even further.

So by this law of incresing entropy, the universe will continue to expand and burn itself out into a dim, dilute soup of subatomic particles. The particles that make us, Caesar and will be floating in all directions through space a few billion years from now. How’s that for a cheery outcome!

Anyhow, this is how my chem eng education comes in handy to me nowadays

How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say gone forever?

Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clarification.
We can go to the philosophers
but they will weary of our questions.
We can go to the priests and rabbis
but they might be busy with administrations.

So, how long does a man live after all?
And how much does he live while he lives?
We fret and ask so many questions –
then when it comes to us
the answer is so simple after all.

A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.

His lover will carry his scent, his touch:
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguements,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will still share his terrors.

And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day he will not have ceased
but will have ceased to be separated by death.

How long does a man live after all?
A man lives so may different lengths of time.