Regarding Cliff H's last iteration of his thoughts about the 2nd law of
thermodynamics:
>Good point. A law can't be circumvented. Let me rephrase my last
>comment. There are reasons as to why the 2LOT would not be an obstacle
>to evolution. Another point is that the 2LOT states that the amount of
>entropy in a system always increases.
Sorry. But this is still not correct. The entropy in a system *does*
decrease every time it loses heat. Things *do* cool off in nature, and
when they do they do not violate the 2nd law.
>This implies that the universe
>will eventually fill up with so much entropy that any form of
>organization will be impossible.
No. There is no such physical concept as 'filling up with entropy'.
The entropy of a system is a statistical information theoretic
*property* of the system. It just has a numerical value. It is *not*
some sort of incompressible stuff that takes up space. Entropy
comes in bits (or J/K if you're an SI fan) *not* liters. It lives in
the same platonic space of numerical valued properties that pressure,
temperature, speed, electrical resistance, viscosity, and a baseball
pitcher's earned run average live in.
>But, the universe is expanding. If
>the rate of expansion is greater than the rate of entropic increase,
>then it is possible that the universe will become even more orderly
>than when it started.
Sorry, but nope. That's not how it works. This *is* a nice imaginative
speculation on your part though.
>In fact, I think this is what is happening and
>why we see the evolution of larger, more complex organisms.
Huh?
Is it time already for another explanation of the 2nd law and the real
meaning of entropy in this forum again? I guess it's understandable;
Cliff is new to the list.
>I just love shooting down my own ideas.
This is a good trait to possess.
David Bowman
David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu
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