The Entropic Event: Introduction to the Pandemic Issue

Abstract

A disruptive, potentially catastrophic event unfolds over time. How do human beings with their culture respond? Do they persist in habituated ways, like those depicted in the movie Don’t Look Up, carrying on with their customs as second nature as their world breaks into pieces, like Hawking’s teacup? Can they have efficacy in changing and adapting during the time course of the unfolding? Are the effects of such entropic events always negative, or can something positive emerge during the unfolding? What does the response tell us about the cultural and social worlds in which it unfolds? These are questions that motivated our solicitation of essays by business anthropologists.