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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (39690)	7/28/2013 2:09:43 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature by Eric J Chaisson amazon.com The laws of non-equilibrium thermodynamics (something for you to chew on gramps) 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.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (39690)	7/28/2013 2:11:08 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

Btw, your request for scientists to provide some natural laws, reminds me of the wascally creatoonist's canard, that attempted to rule out evolution based on a shallow application of 2nd law of thermodynamics. Like you they're trying to play pin the tail on the donkey playing shallow semantics games (instead of brains) and ended up as usual pinning the donkey tail to themselves. They forgot , in pinheaded rush to attack ,that the earth is not a closed system with influx of energy from the sun, a huge difference. What are scientists expected to do, think about it , maybe pray for more science?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (39690)	7/28/2013 3:34:40 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

"Functional information and the emergence of biocomplexity" Robert Hazen & Jack Szostak http://www.pnas.org/content/104/suppl.1/8574.full Last but not least, not slouches, Robert Hazen, working with the Nobel Prize winner Jack Szostak are working on their thesis. The interdisciplines of science are really communicating now going in the same direction of greater comprehension, a matter of time we'll find answers TOE. Despite this diversity, a common thread is present: All complex systems alter their environments in one or more ways, which we refer to as functions ( 32). In the words of von Baeyer ( 18), “Information gathering by itself, without observable effects on the gatherer's behavior, is a pointless pursuit.” Function is thus the essence of complex systems. Accordingly, we focus on function in our operational definition of complexity. Therefore, although many previous investigators have explored aspects of biological systems in terms of information , we adopt a different approach and explore information in terms of the function of a system (including biological systems). cont'd.