Dr John Ross of Harvard University , in Chemical and Engineering News, =
July 27, 1980, p. 40, states:
". there are no known violations of the second law of thermodynamics. =
Ordinarily the second law is stated for isolated systems, but the second =
law applies equally well to open systems. . There is somehow associated =
with the field of far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics the notion that =
the second law of thermodynamics fails for such systems. It is important =
to make sure that this error does not perpetuate itself."
Open systems still have a tendency to disorder.=20
The open systems argument does not help evolution. Raw energy cannot =
generate the specified complex information in living things. Undirected =
energy just speeds up destruction. Just standing out in the sun won't =
make you more complex - the human body lacks the mechanisms to harness =
raw solar energy. If you stood in the sun too long, you would get skin =
cancer, because the sun's undirected energy will cause mutations. =
(Mutations are copying errors in the genes that nearly always lose =
information). Similarly, undirected energy flow though an alleged =
primordial soup will break down the complex molecules of life faster =
than they are formed.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: D. F. Siemens, Jr.=20
To: jaywillingham@cfl.rr.com=20
Cc: asa@calvin.edu=20
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 6:50 PM
Subject: Re: Anthropological items
Jay,
I have talked to physicists specifically on the notion of entropy and =
the argument that the 2nd Law prohibits the evolutionary development of =
increased complexity. If your claim about entropy were correct, it would =
be impossible for your papers to be filed, for the order is increased =
thereby. In physical language, this is decreased entropy in your files. =
What is required for the task of straightening things up is that some =
energy be expended to produce the ordered result. As a consequence, the =
total entropy of the universe has been increased very slightly. The 2nd =
Law provides that, in a closed system, entropy increases. The earth is =
not a closed system: it gets energy from the sun. This indirectly =
provides the energy required for your continued order. If you were =
transformed into a closed system, no input, you would quickly cease to =
function and, in time, minute organisms would reduce your order further =
until they too reached the end of their order--nothing from you that =
they could continue to input.
One of my physicist friends commented that entropy is somewhat =
difficult to understand, so that a lot of nonsense is presented in its =
name. He added that entropy is a probabilistic concept, one aspect of =
which is presented in Maxwell's demon. Dr. David Campbell may not be a =
physicist, but he's got entropy right. You have believed a lie.
Dave
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