Thermodynamics: Understanding the Macroscopic Paranormal

by:  Anthony Milhorn, SSPRS Founder.

Many people in the field of the paranormal have encountered the infamous phenomenon known simply as "cold spots."

Numerous theories have been put forth as to why these places of thermal variance are encountered, but to date, no one has really set them down beyond basic statements and in general terms. Recently, I was studying the laws of thermodynamics for a case, and I believe that I may have came up with a hypothesis that would fall in line with the known laws of thermodynamics and may explain a cold spot in scientific terms.

First, we should define what thermodynamics is.

Thermodynamics is the field of physics that describes and correlates the physical properties of macroscopic systems of matter and energy and their interaction and transference of energy in the form of thermal energy. A macroscopic system (also called a thermodynamic system) is a geometrically (measureable in three dimensional space time) notable piece or pieces of matter in coexistence with an infinite imperturbable environment.

For most people, that is a mouth full. In short, it is the study of how heat energy is transferred from matter to matter and the laws governing those exchanges, called thermodynamic processes. 

There are four laws that govern thermodynamic processes in these systemic exchanges. We will examine in turn to get a better understanding of the basic principles of macroscopic system interaction. So, onto our first concept. Temperature.

Temperature is generally defined as the heat or lack/loss of heat of an object, since cold does not scientifically exist. The Zeroth Law describes what temperature is.

The Zeroth Law states that when two systems are in equilibrium with a third, the first two systems must be in equilibrium with each other. This shared property, which can be measured and a definite numerical value ascribed to that measurement of the property. This measurement of the property is called temperature. This is a more precise definition than that used commonly.

So, if this is the definition of temperature, what is the definition of heat? Heat as a concept is very interesting indeed as it means something entirely different that what most people think of. Heat is commonly known as the opposite of cold, but thermodynamics gives us an entirely different definition of heat. Let's look at it now.

Encarta Encyclopedia states that heat is " in physics, is the transfer of energy from one part of a substance to another, or from one body to another by virtue of a difference in temperature. Heat is energy in transit; it always flows from a substance at a higher temperature to the substance at a lower temperature, raising the temperature of the latter and lowering that of the former substance, provided the volume of the bodies remains constant. Heat does not flow from a lower to a higher temperature unless another form of energy transfer, work, is also present. "

Energy and Work also have very different definitions than most investigators and people attach to them. Again, according to Encarta:

"Energy is capacity of matter to perform work as the result of its motion or its position in relation to forces acting on it."

While work is slightly more complicated and is defined thus:

 " ...Is a product of a force applied to a body and the displacement of the body in the direction of the applied force. While work is done on a body, there is a transfer of energy to the body, and so work can be said to be energy in transit. The units of work are identical to those of energy.

If, for example, an object is lifted from the floor to the top of a table, work is done in overcoming the downward force of gravity, and the energy imparted to the body as work will increase its potential energy. Work is also expended when a force accelerates a body, such as the acceleration of an airplane because of the thrust forces developed by its jet engines...."

While this is interesting in and of itself, the next part of the definition is far more interesting from a  paranormal perspective when you are not dealing with purely mechanical forces:

"... The force need not be simply a mechanical force, as in the case of lifting a body or accelerating a plane by jet reaction; it can also be an electrostatic, electrodynamic, or surface-tension force..."

In layman's terms, energy is the ability to do work and work is defined as going against another force, for example gravity and heat is the result of energy being transferred back and forth from system to system until equilibrium is reached. So what is equilibrium?

Equilibrium is the condition of a system in which competing influences (variables) are balanced evenly. When a macroscopic system shifts with an irreversible reaction, equilibrium is reached and no further change in the system is possible.

A variable, by the way, is a factor used to describe a macroscopic system's state of equilibrium and include things such as temperature, pressure, volume, density, etc, in relationship to the environment.

Heat and work therefore are the mechanisms by which two or more systems may exchange energy, which leads us to the next law.

The next law of thermodynamics is perhaps the one most often quoted (and mis-quoted no less) by investigators as proof of survival and while it does have bearing on that notion of the human soul, is it more appropriately fitting to the concept from which is was pulled: the transference of heat energy from one system to another.

This law states " ...because energy cannot be created or destroyed, the amount of heat transferred into a system plus the amount of work done on the system must result in a corresponding increase of internal energy in the system."

In simple English, this means energy (heat in this case) cannot be created or destroyed but merely transferred from system to system, creating an equal and opposite reaction in the corresponding systems, with an increase in one, (the receiving system) and a decrease in the other (the transference system).

Following this law, is the next rule of thermodynamics, which precisely defines the property of entropy. Entropy could be thought of as a measurement of how close a given system is to equilibrium; it can also be thought of as a measurement of a system's amount of disorder. Interestingly, nature itself seems to prefer chaos and disorder as opposed to a true equilibrium, with each external system balancing out the other in a system of chaotic checks and balances.  Chaos theory describes this fascinating set of interactions and patterns but more on that later in another article, perhaps at another time.

The law itself states that " the total entropy of any isolated system always increases over time, approaching a maximum value."

What this means is that a system will continue in disorder until it finally reaches balance or equilibrium and as stated earlier, once a system reaches this state, it cannot change. This law shows in that in the absence of work, heat cannot be transferred from a region at a lower temperature to one at a higher temperature, however it would be possible for a higher temperature system to give energy (heat) to a lower temperature system.

The last law of thermodynamics that we must understand before moving on to my theory is that the previous law suggests the existence of an absolute zero of temperature and the last law itself states:

"....absolute zero cannot be obtained by any procedure in a finite number of steps and can only be approached arbitrarily closely but never reached."

What this suggests is that temperature can be reduced or increased by taking energy out of a system by making the motion of molecules at the molecular level speed up (increase of heat) or slow down (loss of heat).

So?

Is everyone on the same page?

It's a large amount of information to process but you are now going to see how I used the laws of thermodynamics to describe how a cold spot is formed in a hypothesis that I call the Thermodynamic Macroscopic Transference hypothesis.

With the preceding statements and facts in mind, let's for a moment hypothetically state that we have three isolated systems in a given environment: a living human and a non-corporeal entity, aka a ghost and the air between them. All of these are forms of matter, one solid, two not. The entity in question could transfer heat energy from the human by slowing down the molecules in the air and speeding up the molecules on the human (work) thus creating friction as heat is transferred into or to the entity, drawing it from the human, creating an increase in entropy in all three systems...the human, the ghost and the air.

The decrease in heat from the human would create a feeling of intense cold, while the warmer air between the ghost and human would act like a storage battery for the ghost to use while it draws the heat from the human to itself to use as energy to do work aka, manipulate the environment.

This entropy would continue until the human moves out of the range of the entity in question or disrupts the transfer, which would destabilize the increasing entropy and restore the natural equilibrium in all three systems. If a ghost has taken its fill of heat energy stores and utilizes them to make a physical change in its environment, then the expenditure of that stored energy to do work would drain it away, also restoring the native entropy and equilibrium in the entity.

This may help explain the bone chilling cold that some victims of paranormal encounters are unable to shake or the sudden dense pockets of cold air as the entity uses transfers thermal energy to itself from its environment in a thermodynamic process between the two (possibly three) systems.

While this may go some way towards explaining the mechanics, the process by which an entity would do this remains unknown but outlined above, it is fully in line with the laws of known thermodynamics and thus should be possible...of course this assumes that a non corporeal entity could exist and use heat (energy).

Good Hunting!

----Anthony Milhorn, SSPRS Founder, TAPS Family, TN.