The beauty of introducing that natural tendency towards complexity within the universal framework/astrophysics is really elegant, this simply extends the entire process back to the beginning. A sequence of stellar & cosmic evolution i mentioned months ago that generates more complexity . Nice to know a very sentient Harvard astrophysicist agrees and sprightly offers a very simple,measureable theory that would also predict a planet like ours further sequencing into the emergence of biochemistry & life.
There are no gaps here requiring a dash here & dash there of super intelligence , only a very fine tuned continuum
beautiful:
The laws of non-equilibrium thermodynamics
amazon.com 
Chaisson, an astrophysicist, above shows that the expansion of the universe is happening quickly enough that thermal gradients build up between the radiative energy of the universe and the matter of the universe. These gradients cause dissipative structures to form as the second law of thermodynamics kicks in to try to drive the universe toward equilibrium. Such dissipative structures are the sediment from which more complex dissipative structures can form as these gradients vary and persist. Spontaneous order occurs and becomes more complex without violating any of the laws of thermodynamics. Given enough time, there can arise metabolic dissipative structures - that is, life itself. And all due to the simple fact that the universe expands.
If Chaisson is right, he has unveiled a mind-blowingly simple reason regarding why the total complexity and total entropy of the universe should be able to increase at the same time even if the universe turns out to be a closed system. Why no-one ever discovered this simple reason before could be that no-one ever thought there was a need to look for one. That is, in our own little corner of the universe it is often thought that if you consider the Earth as an open system that all you need to explain the increasing complexity of the biosphere is the massive energy influx from the Sun. That may be true, but Chaisson may have just shown that ever-increasing complexity is not simply a local phenomenon of relatively small open systems at the expense of the rest of the universe but rather is a general principle of the universe as a whole. |
