Dissipation
Why order costs energy — and living systems stay open in order to exist.
Dissipation refers to the throughflow and consumption of energy by which a system maintains its order. A dissipative system is one that, in order to remain ordered, must continually take in, convert and release energy.
It seems a paradox. The second law of thermodynamics says that isolated systems tend of their own accord toward disorder. How then can a living being preserve its highly ordered form? The answer is that it is not an isolated system. Self-organisation does presuppose systems that are operationally closed — which in fact all systems are — but that, as regards energy and stimulation, stand open. The throughflow and consumption of energy by such a thermodynamically open system is called dissipation. A candle flame, a whirlwind, a cell: all owe their enduring form to an unceasing stream passing through them.
Staying open in order to exist
For psychology there is a striking analogy here — and we stress: an analogy, not a proof. A person maintains their psychological organisation not in isolation, but through continual exchange with their surroundings: contact, meaning, stimulation, rest. If that exchange is cut off, it becomes harder to keep form. And conversely a certain degree of energising — activation, motivation, involvement — is often a condition for a new order to arise.
The concept thus reminds us that stability in living systems is nothing static. What holds, holds through movement, not despite it. A patient who is "stuck" is rarely, to our impression, standing still; rather a costly, energy-hungry order is maintaining itself with difficulty. Change then calls not for more rest, but for different conditions under which the energy can organise itself otherwise.