(May 21, 2015 at 5:06 pm)Freedom4me Wrote:(May 21, 2015 at 4:34 pm)Esquilax Wrote: I am saying that the second law is not relevant in discussions of abiogenesis, and it certainly isn't the only consideration to be made here; for one, you don't exactly seem to know what entropy even is. Entropy is what the second law discusses, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fate of your baseball glove; entropy simply discusses energy, and how it disperses throughout a closed system over time. The example you're giving isn't even applicable to what you were originally talking about; do you seriously know that little about the subject you brought up, that you'll drift off somewhere else entirely without knowing it?
Secondly, you cannot even draw a proper comparison between the pre-biotic Earth and your baseball glove, because they are completely different things; you could probably disprove the idea that ice melts if the only examples you're willing to consider are of liquid water, or fire, but the fact is that examples generally have to be applicable to the discussion, which yours are not. The state the Earth is in now is radically different from how it was at the time of the original abiogenetic event, whatever that may be, and so of course the effect it has on matter will be radically different too. What you're doing is akin to stating that ice can't melt, because you don't see the ocean melting. There's a few factors different between what you're talking about, and the example you're giving against it.
And frankly, I think you probably knew that, and are being facetious. It's not a great look for you. You may want to try conversing honestly.
I hate to admit it Esquilax, but I really am that ignorant, especially regarding science. I'm not being facetious, I'm just not very well educated. And I'm honored to learn from you and all of the other good and well educated people here at AF. If it appears that I'm struggling with the concept of increasing entropy, it might be because there are certain things that you and others here have pointed out to me that I simply don't understand.
I do understand that the pre-biotic earth must have been extremely different than anything that I can imagine. But I still think that open system or closed, prebiotic or post, whatever the second law says, it is basically saying that even if I run my baseball glove up a flag pole and keep it there for millions of years ...so nature (lightning?) can act on it, the baseball glove will completely disintegrate LONG before the unpredictable forces of nature ever get a chance to change it into something vastly more ordered. Where am I wrong? And thanks for being so patient with me!
I'm not claiming to be any kind of specialist in biology, but my answer to where you're going wrong is 'everywhere'. However, props for admitting your ignorance.
So here is my explanation, as I understand it.
Life cannot form from inanimate objects such as a baseball glove. There are no components within such an object that can form the basic building blocks for life, and so nothing can ever come from it. For life to form, it needs to be from the 'ground up' so to speak. So you need amino acids and other shit, exposed to catalysts to speed up chemical reactions and a VERY long time, geologic timescales that the human mind is not equipped to imagine. Eventually you are pretty much guaranteed to end up with a precursor to DNA that is complex enough to self-replicate, and the spark of life has taken hold.
It took a VERY long time, but the Earth was already a billion years old at that point, with countless billions of chemical reactions happening every day, their fires being stoked by all kinds of outside influences like lightning, meteorites and of course the sun. Life was...inevitable.
That such an event could come about by natural events is far more impressive than any creator. Luckily though, impressiveness is irrelevant, as we now can say with almost total certainty that this is what happened.
If you have any serious concerns, are being harassed, or just need someone to talk to, feel free to contact me via PM