At its core, my book argues that memory erasure is not free—neither in physics nor in human systems. In 1961, physicist Rolf Landauer demonstrated that erasing a single bit of information carries an unavoidable thermodynamic cost. While that principle emerged from computation, I expand it into the realm of systems science to examine how the erasure of cultural, historical, and personal memory imposes profound costs on society. This framework, which I call the collapse algorithm, describes how attempts to delete or rewrite the past destabilize the very systems that depend on continuity and coherence.
From Physics to Systems Collapse
Landauer’s principle provides the scientific anchor: information has entropy, and erasure consumes energy. When scaled from the microscopic level of bits to the macroscopic level of nations, civilizations, and human collectives, the consequences of erasure grow exponentially. Every destroyed archive, every censored truth, every rewritten narrative consumes energy and leaves a scar on the system. My book details how the collapse algorithm maps this thermodynamic principle into the social, political, and psychological realms—showing how societies pay a hidden cost when they erase memory, and how that cost can lead to fragmentation, authoritarian drift, and systemic collapse.
The Engineered Collapse of Shared Reality
The collapse algorithm is not just a metaphor—it is an operating system for power. By deliberately erasing inconvenient truths and overwriting public memory, authoritarian movements create an energy imbalance that destabilizes democratic systems. The algorithm explains why propaganda, censorship, and manufactured amnesia are not just tools of control but also engines of collapse. Erasure breeds entropy, and entropy corrodes trust, coherence, and truth. This process is playing out in real time, from the rewriting of national histories to the manipulation of digital information landscapes.
Why This Matters Now
We are living through an era of engineered forgetting. The collapse algorithm helps us see why the stakes are so high: memory is not just a record of the past, but the operating code of the present. When it is erased, corrupted, or rewritten, the system itself is degraded. Understanding the thermodynamic and systemic cost of erasure equips us to resist it, to safeguard collective memory, and to defend against collapse.
Announcement
I’m excited to share that my book, The Collapse Algorithm, will be published in the coming months. It explores how the erasure of memory—whether in physics, politics, or society—always carries a cost, and how that cost is reshaping our world today.
As part of my commitment to open access, the book will be free for all Substack subscribers. A full version will also be archived on GitHub under the MIT License so it can be shared, cited, and built upon.
Stay tuned—this is just the beginning.
Disclaimer
This book is a work of analysis and interpretation. It reflects the author’s views, research, and perspective as a student and independent researcher. The content is provided for educational, informational, and scholarly purposes only. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the author makes no representations or warranties regarding completeness or reliability. Nothing herein should be construed as legal advice, professional counsel, or an official position of any institution. The responsibility for how this material is used rests solely with the reader.
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