If the self is a mere linguistic designation, a non-static aggregate or bundle of dynamic processes, and an emergent pattern of a subsystem within the supersystem of Saṃsāra (Saṃsāra = Citta + Cetasika + Rūpa), why is its self-dissolution, disintegration, or cessation so replete with systemic or structural friction and Saṃsāric resistance via negentropy?
What sustains and makes the subsystem (self) persist? Hedonists seek pleasure. We are all functionally hedonists. Yet what is pleasure if not the byproduct of desire?
Desire → Ergonomic Subjugation/Overcoming Resistance → Pleasure
Ergonomics is the study of designing and arranging objects or systems in a way that optimizes human ease of use, comfort, well-being, and performance. Here, ergonomics refers to the molding of Saṃsāra into a state that is seen as desirable to the subsystem (self). Consequently, ergonomic subjugation can be seen as the act of subjugating the other, for the self. This is the modus operandi and telos of beings or the sattā (Satta = Citta + Cetasika + Rūpa or Satta in Arūpabhūmi = Citta + Cetasika). To verify this claim, you only have to look around yourself. We have subjugated the land to grow crops, to build houses, roads, and cities. We have subjugated the animals so that they may yield more food for us and be more useful in our endeavors. We have done the same to the plants. We have even subjected our own bodies to this subjugation, wearing adornments and styling our hair, changing how we look to fit that which we desire. This inference is bottom-up rather than top-down. The reason for this is obvious as we cannot consult the creator and get a unanimous answer for the reason behind our creation. However, consultation with the creator is unnecessary. We can presuppose telos by looking at the most common and deft attributes of a given subject or object. We can decode the telos of an axe by its efficacy in cutting down a tree. In the same way, we can decode the telos of beings by their highest ordering principle: ergonomic subjugation. All conscious actions done by beings could be described in terms of ergonomic subjugation. It could be said that desire and ergonomic subjugation are synonyms of one another. Thus, when one mentions their desires, what they mean is their desire for ergonomic subjugation. Such being the case, it could be said that positive emotion is the effect of the act of ergonomic subjugation, in the same way that positive emotion is the effect of desire. Therefore, since ergonomic subjugation applies to all desires, it can be said that one does not ergonomically subjugate because it brings them positive emotion, but rather one feels positive emotion due to the act of ergonomic subjugation. In other words, we do not subjugate because we feel positive emotion; we feel positive emotion because we have subjugated. This renders ergonomic subjugation a more core operating principle than the desire for positive emotion, making it the telos of beings or the sattā.
If we suppose that the ultimate realities (Saṃsāra + Nibbāna) are negative infinities without beginnings, open-loop systems with Saṃsāra also being a nested system, and the zero point existing as the ever-flowing present moment, entropy is naturally introduced into Saṃsāra, but not Nibbāna as it is an undivided reality with no separate parts, making it static. Therefore, reality resists (in Saṃsāra).
However, since a subsystem cannot maximally subjugate the supersystem, the sattā engage in a constant struggle against Saṃsāra. And since the number of the sattā is incalculable, the fuel never runs out.
Ergo, the wheel of Saṃsāra turns incessantly and eternally.