The Physics of Agency, Part 5: The Law of Agency Decay — Entropy Always Wins

Why Agency Is Always Running Out of Time

The Law of Agency Decay

In the last post, we learned that exercising control consumes physical energy.

Now we confront a harsher reality:

Even if you burn energy wisely and choose carefully, your capacity to exercise agency inevitably decays without fresh energy.

This is the Law of Agency Decay:

In a closed system without external energy input, the available capacity to exercise agency (kybits) inevitably decreases over time.

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Drift: The Silent Enemy

Entropy is always waiting.

If an agent does nothing to replenish their free energy reserves:

• Their internal modeling degrades.

• Their action capabilities diminish.

• Their ability to bias futures shrinks.

Eventually, they stop steering entirely. Random drift reclaims dominance.

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Formal Statement

Let:

• C_available(t) be the number of kybits an agent can still exert at time t.

• E_free(t) be the available free energy.

Then:

\(\frac{dC_{\text{available}}}{dt} \leq 0 \quad \text{(in a closed system)}\)

Since:

\(C_{\text{available}}(t) \propto \frac{E_{\text{free}}(t)}{k_B T \ln 2}\)

as free energy decreases, control capacity decays accordingly.

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Why This Matters

• No perpetual agency.

• No infinite choosing without cost.

• No escape from thermodynamic consequences.

Sustained agency requires continual intake of negentropy—new ordered energy from outside sources:

• Food

• Fuel

• Computation

• Knowledge

Without replenishment, every agent eventually becomes a drifter.

Agency is a temporary island in a sea of entropy.

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Real-World Echoes

• Starving organisms lose agency: survival narrows to reflex.

• Depleted batteries in AI systems lead to shutdown: agency collapses.

• Exhausted humans lose flexibility: "decision fatigue" is real and physical.

At every scale, the cost of steering futures demands continuous energy investment.

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Where We're Headed

In the next post, we'll introduce the Law of Agency Limits:

Perfect, cost-free control is physically impossible.

We'll see why perfect steering without thermodynamic friction can never be achieved—and what this means for the limits of agency itself.

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Reflective Question

How does recognizing the inevitable decay of agency—mirroring the universal increase of entropy—impact traditional philosophical views on human potential and limitations?

(Share your experiences in the comments!)

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Next post: "The Law of Agency Limits: Perfect Control Is Impossible"