Scientists explain the meaning of life (and we don't matter much)

[dArKeR]

A new theory states that it is entropy which drives evolution to higher levels of complexity -- for the sole purpose of disseminating energy gradients

By Arne Jernelov

Most religions embrace and promote certain notions about the meaning of life, offering the faithful reasons why we and all other organisms exist. Indeed, perhaps the fundamental definition of religious faith is the belief that life serves a (divine) purpose. Science, however, has always given a resounding "no" to the question "Does life have a higher meaning?"

At least until now.

In a series of lectures and in a forthcoming book, science writers Eric Schneider and Dorion Sagan argue that even from a scientific perspective, life does serve a purpose, and thus does have a meaning that transcends the self. They arrived at this conclusion when trying to reconcile a contradiction that has long puzzled those who study both biology and physics.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/09/30/2003204990

I don't understand since all reactions move towards a stabler state why that is considered entropy? It seems to me the universe is moving towards more order.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Order is Entropic

Entropy is loss of energy; fundamentally, loss of heat. As energy decreases, order increases. This is a cornerstone of Information Theory. Claude Shannon is the keystone scholar of entropy.

A crystal is a very low energy state of matter; gas is a very high energy state. Crystals are highly organized, and gas is chaotic (in fact, the word "gas" comes from the word "chaos").

The theory by Sagan and Schneider (reported in the Taipei Times) isn't new by any means. Ilya Prigogine pioneered the field over 25 years ago. The concept is known as the physics of Dissipative Structures. Sagan and Schneider have probably extended the idea into philosophy and perhaps theology.

It might sound weird. It is. Hope this helps.

--bkl

[phantom power]

5. entropy is the amount of "useless" heat in a system.

In thermodynamics, the "order", or structure, of a system referrs to the existence of high energy regions and lower energy regions, allowing useful work to be accomplished.

A completely isothermic system will have heat energy, but it's all useless. No flow is possible, and so nothing can be tapped to accomplish work. The entropy is maximized.

I've always been under the impression that "entropy" in information theory is more of a mathematical analogy. For instance, a compressed signal will exhibit very high entropy, but embodies plenty of structure, at least if you possess the algorithm for decompresssing it.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. The heat is real

For instance, an algorithm does not consume energy itself, but executing it with computing machinery will. The two parts of the code (compressed signal and codec) are each highly entropic, but together resolve the problem and increase the information (and decrease entropy).

Also, these regions of high and low energy, as well as the definition of "useful", incorporate information. More precisely, heat dissipating, and evolving information. I suppose that a completely isothermic system is either unattainable, or is the "boundary condition" of the expanding universe (the point at which expansion ends and contraction begins -- a situation which may not exist).

The nature of the Big Bang -- the universe as a singularity -- made it the ultimate entropic state. There was no order, and infinite heat. As the universe expands, the heat is dissipated into structures like strings, galaxies, stars, planets, particles, etc. Eventually the dissipation will consume matter itself, if present theories are correct.

I realize that a lot of this is highly abstract and metaphysical (in the precise sense of the term). The field is still new, and even though I feel that my explanation is solid, I stand in awe of my own ignorance. :)

--bkl

[JohnOneillsMemory]

2. Human life and the second law of thermodynamics - enemies?

http://www.dieoff.com/page193.htm
'Human life and the second law of thermodynamics in conflict'

This article suggests that the ultimate 'order' includes eliminating human life from the party. I think. Maybe that was just a druther.

[giant_robot]

4. Life isn't in conflict

with the second law of thermodynamics at all. Although order is increased on a small scale, the net result of living organisms is always an increase in entropy. That's the point of the article. You can't shake the laws of the universe.

BKL is right, this isn't a new idea at all. I've gotten similar answers from my biology and biochemistry professors when I posed the question. I've never seen it explained quite this elegantly, though.

[ixion]

3. certainly, entropy is the key

This has been my theory ever since I discovered Maxwell's 'Demon Box' theory, which essentially describes a way of producing energy in a closed system (think perpetual motion).

This article adds an interesting (possible) twist the theory, however, in that if a Demon Box were ever really created, according to this theory, we would de-evolve (societies and ecosystems would degrade) since entropy had been reduced to 0. The interesting thing is that this would make sense, since these constructs are formed primarily because of entropy.


Thanks for posting this, dArKeR. Gives me good thinking fodder for the day. :-)

[enki23]

6. er... that "demon box" is a thought experiment

which relied upon a demon who both observed and operated a trap door, neither of which were allowed to use any energy or increase entropy. in other words: nothing like it really exists, and, without turning our current understanding of the universe on its ear, nothing like it will *ever* really exist. you knew, that, right?

[ixion]

7. yep, I know that

but just because something doesn't exist, doesn't mean that it can't.

It used to be common, accepted scientific knowledge that the Earth was the center of the universe, but that make it any more correct. ;-)

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Does Maxwell's Demon create energy, or segregate it?

I've been under the impression that Maxwell's Demon uses information to segregate energy into two (or more) different "areas". The Demon would itself be a heat-dissipator, and the total overall energy of the universe would be reduced as its information content would increase.

Prigogine's Dissipative Structures could well be the real equivalents of Maxwell's Demons.

--bkl
Of course, I could be wrong.

[ixion]

11. it segregates it

Basically the idea is that you have an imaginary 'demon' that can distinguish between faster (hotter) and slower(colder) molecules. The demon would allow only the faster molecules to pass to the left side of the box. Over time, the left half of the box would become hot and the right would be cold, at which point you could use a heat engine to allow the heat to flow from one side to the other.

[Skittles]

10. most people cannot accept reality

they need religion