I had always heard this referenced as a case for entropy. Their natural state is to be tangled. We impose order on them by making them straight. Left unattended though they will always move towards disorder.
I understand your question was more about the physical forces at work. But I always thought this was interesting!
Crowonthepost t1_iqpo3rw wrote
Reply to Why do strings and headphone cables spontaneously wrap around each other when placed in proximity? by sfsolarboy
I had always heard this referenced as a case for entropy. Their natural state is to be tangled. We impose order on them by making them straight. Left unattended though they will always move towards disorder.
I understand your question was more about the physical forces at work. But I always thought this was interesting!
Edit: autocorrect