The law of increasing entropy is a fundamental principle in cosmic sociology.
It states that in any natural process, the total disorder or "entropy" of an isolated system will never decrease. Decay is the eternal theme of the universe, applying not just to the laws of thermodynamics, but to stars, black holes, biological life, and even entire civilizations.
"Nothing in the universe lasts forever. Even an advanced Interstellar Civilization will eventually decline and perish. Therefore, the metric of ’civilizational entropy’ is used to measure the degree of internal chaos within a society."
"We can assume that the more orderly a civilization is, the lower its entropy; conversely, the more chaotic it is, the higher its entropy."
"The increase of a civilization’s entropy is a spontaneous process, but a society can employ certain methods to control the rate at which its entropy grows."
So, how does a society prevent a rapid spike in civilizational entropy?
It is a highly complex issue tied to every aspect of a civilization: its history, economy, political institutions, culture, and technological level. Unsurprisingly, this is a primary research focus in cosmicsociology.
As the leader of the Federation, Jason frequently participated in these discussions.
Oddly enough, statistical data showed a clear negative correlation between a civilization’s overall mobility and its population size. A small population is always easier to unite. A massive population, however, introduces endless complications that require dense layers of systems, regulations, and laws to manage.
The underlying principle was straightforward.
This social theory was put forward by Blake, an alien cosmicsociologist. He argued that a population explosion isn’t necessarily a good thing for an Interstellar Civilization.
Because of unique differences in history, economics, governance, and culture, every civilization has its own "optimal population size." Exceeding this threshold causes civilizational entropy to skyrocket.
"Often, the collective productivity of 10 billion people is actually lower than that of 100 million... simply because the administrative systems cannot keep pace, and a population of 10 billion is inherently more chaotic."
So, what is the ideal population size? How can a society maximize industrial efficiency without triggering a massive increase in entropy?
Perhaps due to a lack of complete data, researchers had not yet found a precise formula. The Level 4 civilization Blake previously belonged to hadn’t cracked it either or perhaps they had, but Blake hadn’t been privy to the details.
"In short... a civilization’s entropy inevitably rises alongside its population. This is a major reason why many Interstellar Civilizations transition into smaller, elite societies. Correspondingly, as technology advances, the birth rates in most advanced civilizations naturally decline."
Blake wrote the following in his official report:
[ "I once observed an ancient Level 3 civilization that spanned several star systems and boasted a population in the trillions. To reach that stage of development, they had undoubtedly built an incredibly vast and complex technological foundation."
"They were a firmly established Level 3 civilization. The sheer difficulty of advancing, maintaining, and passing down their technology and knowledge systems far exceeded the intellectual capacity and natural lifespans of their average citizens."
"At that point, the vast majority of their citizens became ’surplus population’—they could no longer make any meaningful contributions to the civilization’s advancement."
"Lacking Level 4 neural implants to boost their cognitive abilities, this massive surplus population ended up hindering their progress, permanently stalling their development."
"Gradually, the civilization fell into the trap of mindless consumerism and material indulgence, much like many primitive societies..."
"They lost their drive and were eventually conquered by a younger Level 2 civilization, which absorbed their vast technological wealth and successfully ascended."
"Therefore, education, cultural environment, and social structures are absolutely vital for a civilization’s healthy development! Even advanced Interstellar Civilizations cannot afford to neglect them!" ]
Blake spent his days holed up in his office, drafting these novel theories.
He cared deeply about the Federation’s development, acting almost as if he were its true leader. Jason didn’t mind this at all; insights from a formerly advanced civilization were invaluable. Even though Blake was an alien, his papers deserved serious consideration as long as the logic held up.
In just a few days, the Federation colonists easily fell back into the same highly productive rhythm they had during the construction of the Deep Space. There was zero friction or hesitation.
This proved that the Federation’s societal structure was incredibly healthy, a fact that brought Jason a great deal of satisfaction.
Time marched on. Thanks to everyone’s round-the-clock efforts, the space elevator was officially completed in just two months.
The structure was roughly fifty meters wide, housing over a hundred heavy-duty elevator cars capable of hauling three to five million tons of cargo per day. This was a massive logistical capacity, especially since the upward-bound cargo consisted entirely of processed, finished goods.
Within days, an immense fleet of mining drones was shipped down to the surface via the space elevator. Guided by orbital satellites, these machines automatically dispersed to various designated mining zones and began their work.
Extracting!
Mining!
A sprawling railway network ferried the raw ore to a massive central smelting hub located at the base of the space elevator. After the ore was refined, the finished materials were loaded onto the elevator cars and hauled straight into orbit.
A complete, closed-loop industrial system was successfully established. It was straightforward, robust, and highly efficient.
And it had taken just over two months to build!
Naturally, countless minor logistical issues popped up, but those weren’t Jason’s problem. If he micromanaged every detail, he’d be overwhelmed. The Federation government had set up a specialized task force to handle routine operations and emergencies; minor issues didn’t require his personal approval.
As a result, the task force’s headquarters became the busiest place on the ship. Every day, a team of staff engaged in heated debates over various proposals. They were a new generation of young, energetic professionals, and this was the perfect crucible for them to hone their administrative skills.
"...No, that won’t work! The main surface smelter is drawing way too much power, and the energy cells we’ve sent down aren’t cutting it... We might need to deploy another reactor! John, go push the engineering team on this!"
"Another reactor? We’ve already deployed half our reserves!" A young man dashed toward the door, only to be yanked back by a senior engineer. "Deploy a reactor?! We’d be better off beaming the excess power down directly from the Deep Space. We can string superconducting cables along the space elevator tether; the cables themselves won’t need to bear any structural load..."
"If we can just pipe the electricity down, think of how much uranium we’d save!"
"Pipe it down... Let me check the telemetry. Yes! The Deep Space is currently overproducing power by a wide margin!"
"Then let’s run the cables! I bet we can use the D63-grade superconducting wire!"
After running the numbers and debating the logistics, the team greenlit the plan. With the main ion thrusters powered down, the ship’s fusion reactors were generating a massive surplus of electricity that was largely going to waste. Funneling that excess power down to run the surface smelters was the perfect solution.
As a result, the space elevator project received an impromptu upgrade: an 8,000-kilometer-long high-voltage transmission line.
Similar issues cropped up constantly, but the young task force tackled them one by one, continuously streamlining operations at the surface mining bases.
The industrial output of a society of 700,000 was vastly different from one with only 50,000. In fact, it was several orders of magnitude higher. With over 700,000 highly educated citizens, the Federation was finally able to support simultaneous scientific advancements across multiple major fields.
Furthermore, humanity’s collective intellect and technological prowess had made quantum leaps over the past 160 years. The mining operations proceeded at a blistering pace; millions of automated machines scoured the planet’s surface, yet the entire massive undertaking ran with perfect, clockwork precision.