  On the standard microscopic model of friction we confirm the common belief
that the irreversible entropy production originates from the increase of
Shannon information. We reveal that the reversible microscopic dynamics would
continuously violate the Gibbsian interchangeability of molecules. The
spontaneous restoration of interchangeability constitutes the mechanism of
irreversibility. This is the main suggestion of the Letter. We also point out
that the irreversible entropy can partially be rescued if the size of the
medium is finite. The rescueable entropy is found to be proportional to the
square of the Fisher statistical (also called thermodynamic) distance.
