H E A T D E A T H

Week 2

Does Heat Death sound like an alarming phrase to you? Well, maybe it should.

It’s one of physics top theories for the end of the universe. The Norse had Jörmungandr and the Twilight of the Gods, Hinduism has Kalki, Christianity has the stories from Revelation, Buddhism has the Seven Suns. And that’s only naming a few. Well, it turns out physicists have a couple ideas of their own about the end of the world based off of current projections, and one of those is called Heat Death.

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad from Pexels

I’ll do my best Feynman’s to lay it out for you, but just to be clear, it took me a lot of time reading about this just to get to this point of explanation and things get sticky around the second law of thermodynamics:

1. Scientists thought the expansion of the universe would eventually slow down because the mass / gravity of everything that’s been created so far.

2. They learned they were very wrong about that.

3. Lord Kelvin, sometime in the mid-1800s, was able to confirm that shit was still moving farther and farther away from us and that there was no rebound or contraction of rate of expansion due to the mass of created matter.

4. Eventually, physicists and astronomers confirmed through research and data that the universal expansion is indeed increasing in speed. They don’t know exactly why, but they think maybe it has to do with something we can’t see called Dark Energy. This dark energy makes up so much more the universe than what we think of as “matter” (what we see with our human eyes like planets and stars).

5. Because of the laws of thermodynamics (specifically the second one but don’t quote me on this) we know that entropy always increases within a system. Entropy is this cute little thing that leads to the eventual breakdown and chaos within every closed system (this system being the universe). Essentially, no energetic system is perfect, and while energy can’t be created or destroyed, it can be used inefficiently, dispersed or slowed down.

6. Heat Death happens when all the energy of expansion creates a thermal equilibrium. Things literally chill out (so “Heat Death” is like the death of heat, not that things get hotter) and can’t keep expanding or colliding (to create new stars, etc) because the energy output has been spent. Everything gets cold. Black holes reign. Now, when this is supposed to happen is a number I don’t know how to pronounce with a lot of exponents—so don’t get too panicked. Most scientists use reassuring language like, “Humans will be long gone by then,” to caveat the end of the world.

Okay, I’m a writer, not an astrophysicist, so read a little bit about Heat Death on your own before you go quoting me. Here’s a great summary of the theory.

Check out this video by a NCSU professor Dr. Katie Mack. I found it very accessible and her work fascinating. Her book, The End of Everything, sounds not at all alarming.

There are a couple other physics theories out their too, like The Big Rip. And of course, there are all the religious Apocalyptic scenarios. And of course, there are climate disaster scenarios as well. And of course, nuclear winter predictions. We have plenty of time to examine those later (but don’t worry, we’ll take time in between, so as to not focus solely on eschatology here).

Writer’s tip: Character’s facing endings (not always death—but that might be the most obvious—and not always their own death but someone else’s) is a great way to draw in conflict and tension, not to mention it is, in reality, a truly difficult human condition to come to terms with and by addressing it in literature we can start to make sense of it in small increments.

Writing assignment due by next week:

This is a heavy topic in some ways because it reminds us of endings. This might feel a bit scary, but maybe it can also be fascinating, freeing somehow (?), surprising, or even hard to believe. Gauge your response to the theory of Heat Death. Spend some time journaling about your fears, relief, disbelief or overall thoughts on the topic. Does the science interest you—what about the philosophical concepts surrounding “the end of everything?” Do you have your own beliefs about “the end” or do you think humans and AI (if we are still around) will be able to “solve” it by then? Don’t rush the process, just journal it out. You can always spend more time with the literature and videos above and come back to this assignment after you’ve had time to process.

Here is an example of what the paid subscription will include when made available on 4/4/21.

The paid subscription will also include the free content, so readers don’t have to scan two separate emails. I’ve opened the paid subscription option if you would like to get an early jump on your subscription or sign up for the yearly rate. I deeply appreciate any willingness to help fund this project and the time I spend working on it. 

I’m not sure I can quite explain why learning about the end of the universe has engaged me so deeply. I don’t find it scary because I’ll be long gone by then, but in a way, it offers me this universal fact: everything dies eventually. In some ways, this can be a beautiful motivator. What legacy do we want to leave behind? How can we help to relieve suffering while we’re here? How can we make the time we have as beautiful as possible?

I first read about the theory of Heat Death from a thought-provoking Longreads essay, “At Atlas of the Cosmos,” by Shannon Stirone. I recommend setting time aside to read the full essay. She blends personal history and really complicated science with such seamless skill.

Yayoi Kusama’s 2016 installation “At the End of the Universe” immerses us in these universal questions. Check out this video with the volume up:

How often do you get off the surface of our planet? These fifteen short stories can help expand your mind, to travel space and time from the comfort of your own home. (Name drop: Kij Johnson is an NCSU alumni, just like I will be in a few weeks. I went to a reading of hers on campus last year—so inspiring.) This list doesn’t include “The Matter of Seggri” by Le Guin. This story is a kicker with some intense messages for readers about gender, equality, the inanity of cultural values and violence.

Creative assignment options:

1. Choose one of the fifteen short stories linked above, or Le Guin’s “The Matter of Seggri,” and read carefully. Take your time with it. You might choose to sit and read one night instead of turning the television on (I’m super bad about having the TV on while I read!), or maybe you can set aside time to read before bed. After you finish the story, write out your answers to the following questions. Did I enjoy this story? Why or why not? Was it well written and why? What did the main character(s) in this story want most? Why couldn’t they have that? What does this longing versus lack do for the story? Does the writer use space / space travel / the wider universe as a means to expose something about life here on Earth (underlying metaphors or themes)? How and in what way?

2. Ekphrastic: Use images or videos of Yayoi Kusama’s artwork to write an ekphrastic poem. (This is a poem that is inspired by a work of art.) There’s a lot of freedom here. You can write a poem about yourself or another speaker looking at a piece of artwork, you can write a poem that exists “inside” the artwork, or you can write a poem about the end of the universe. Let the artwork inspire you. If you’re not sure how to write a poem, just remember there are no rules. You can write rhyming couplets, a sonnet, a freeform paragraph of a poem or just a simple line poem that means a lot to you but might not be clear to anyone else. Here’s an ekphrastic essay I wrote.

3. Metaphor: I find Heat Death to be an apt metaphor for relationships. First of all, the name itself—Heat Death—feels somehow romantic (in a violent, Tarantino kind of way). Think of it this way: It all starts with a Big Bang, and then it ends with a rapid dispersion of energy that leads to gradual separation, a cooling down. How many relationships have you had that followed that trajectory? It can’t just be me…right? Well, apparently it’s literally universal. Be bold and write a flash fiction story of about 500 words (or a poem if that’s less pressure) about the metaphor here—Big Bang to Heat Death. It can be about a relationship, your cat, someone who passed away, or it can be completely made up. Use what you read about Heat Death to guide the story arc (rising tension to climax to resolution). If you’ve never written a story before but have always wanted to try—start here! If you’d rather write an essay (a true story about your life), then go ahead, but don’t be afraid to go out on a limb here. No one’s judging, no one’s looking over your shoulder, and you don’t actually have to turn it in (if you don’t want to).

Feel free to share responses to prompts below, ask questions, offer advice, share Heat Death information, or just say hello.

I would appreciate your help spreading the word about Creative / Seminary. If you can think of just one person to share with who you believe would enjoy the ritual, that would be so helpful to me. I plan to devote a lot of time to this project, but with so many priorities in life—I require reader support! Thanks for stopping by this week. 

See you next Sunday,

Misha