This old slatestarcodex post is fascinating to revisit in the context of everything that has happened in the 7 years since it was written:

https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/07/25/how-the-west-was-won/

Since the first time I read the post, I've probably become somewhat less confident in the idea that high-entropy cultures are almost always better.

And I feel like that's a common update coming out of recent trends: trumpism and wokeness have both proven themselves high-entropy, and it's kinda hard to approve of both.

But even going beyond politics and into "lifestyle culture", the whole network state concept ("keto kosher") is an active attempt to fight against entropy to a limited extent - whereas earlier libertarian-adjacent movements tended to go along with it.

Fighting entropy seems to be a worthwhile human endeavor in general IMO. Things like cleaning, repairing damage, building infrastructure, working towards health and longevity seem to me to all be examples of fighting entropy. 😊