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In a closed system, like our kids' rooms, entropy doesn't just decrease on its own. Russian playwright Anton Chekhov put it like this: "Only entropy comes easy." If our kids don't make an effort to clean up, the room just gets messier and messier. The natural increase of entropy over time in a closed system is known as the second law of thermodynamics. ... On a more practical level, the second law serves as a reminder that orderliness needs to be maintained, lest it be slowly chipped away by disorder.