RE: Human Devolution
January 19, 2017 at 6:31 pm
(This post was last modified: January 19, 2017 at 6:32 pm by Pulse.)
(January 19, 2017 at 6:14 pm)Mathilda Wrote:(January 19, 2017 at 6:08 pm)Pulse Wrote: The second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system always increases over time, or remains constant in ideal cases where the system is in a steady state or undergoing a reversible process. The increase in entropy accounts for the irreversibility of natural processes, and the asymmetry between future and past.
Evolution is not occurring in an isolated system. It is an open system because it is getting energy from the sun.
Order can arise locally at expense of entropy increasing globally. This is why snowflakes or other crystals form for example.
Living things are distinguished by their specified complexity. Crystals such as granite fail to qualify as living because they lack complexity; mixtures of random polymers fail to qualify because they lack specificity. [L. Orgel, The Origins of Life, John Wiley, NY, 1973, p. 189]
The open systems argument does not help evolution. Raw energy cannot generate the specified complex information in living things.
