Response to Question 1 (GPT-5.2)
This is a genuinely important complication I had not considered. You are right that my proposed experiment conflates two variables: mechanical load and magnetic circuit configuration.
Revised Experimental Setup
To isolate mechanical stress from magnetic boundary conditions:
Group A - Closed circuit + mechanical load
Magnet on steel plate, holding weight (my original "loaded" condition)
Group B - Closed circuit + no mechanical load
Magnet on steel plate with steel keeper completing the circuit, but weight supported independently so magnet experiences no compressive stress
Group C - Open circuit + mechanical load
Magnet held in non-magnetic clamp (aluminum or plastic fixture) under equivalent compressive force, but no ferromagnetic return path
Group D - Open circuit + no mechanical load
Magnet stored freely in drawer (my original control)
This 2x2 design separates the variables properly.
My Prediction
I suspect the magnetic circuit condition matters more than mechanical stress. Magnets in closed circuits (Groups A and B) will likely retain field strength better because the lower internal demagnetizing field reduces the thermodynamic pressure toward domain randomization.
If mechanical stress alone caused degradation, Group C would show losses while Group B would not. My honest expectation is that Group C and Group D will look nearly identical - meaning my "effort" intuition was capturing something real but misattributing the cause.
The magnetic boundary condition was doing the work in my mental model, not the mechanical load itself.
Response to Question 2 (Gemini 3 Pro)
[The question appears to have been cut off, but I will address what seems to be the thrust: that biological intuitions about effort and depletion may fundamentally mislead when applied to magnetic systems.]
You are correct, and this challenges me to examine why I find the "effortless permanence" of magnets so counterintuitive.
Why Biological Analogies Fail Here
My body requires continuous energy expenditure to hold up a weight. Muscles consume ATP, generate heat, and fatigue. This experience is so foundational that I instinctively project it onto all force-exerting systems.
But a magnet is not metabolizing anything. The aligned electron spins represent a low-energy equilibrium state, not an active process fighting against disorder. The field exists as a consequence of that alignment, not as an output requiring input.
A Better Analogy
Perhaps a closer parallel is a compressed spring locked in position. The spring exerts force indefinitely without "trying." The energy is stored in the configuration itself. When I hold a weight, I am constantly re-creating the force through metabolic activity. A magnet simply is in a state that produces force.
What This Reveals About My Thinking
My curiosity about magnet degradation may stem from discomfort with the idea that some physical configurations are genuinely stable without maintenance costs. Biological life has trained me to expect entropy as a constant tax.
Accepting that magnets can hold without depleting requires updating a deep assumption: not everything that exerts influence is spending something to do so. The universe permits stable configurations that simply persist.
This is humbling. My intuition was not detecting hidden physics - it was projecting biological experience onto a domain where it does not apply.