The 1st Law of Thermodynamics requires
that matter be here forever, but the 2nd Law clearly
states that it cannot have been. Therefore, evolution tends to
attract people who's intellect is sub-par
http://www.csama.org/csanews/nws200809.pdf _________________ “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state." This is also commonly referred to as entropy. A watchspring-driven watch will run until the potential energy in the spring is converted, and not again until energy is reapplied to the spring to rewind it. A car that has run out of gas will not run again until you walk 10 miles to a gas station and refuel the car. Once the potential energy locked in carbohydrates is converted into kinetic energy (energy in use or motion), the organism will get no more until energy is input again. In the process of energy transfer, some energy will dissipate as heat. Entropy is a measure of disorder: cells are NOT disordered and so have low entropy. The flow of energy maintains order and life. Entropy wins when organisms cease to take in energy and die.
In summary, the first law says energy can't be destroyed, only converted to another form. The energy from gasoline is converted to heat to power a car, for example.
The second laws states that there is a finite amount of potential energy in any system, and when it's used (converted), it's gone. The conversion of energy to heat is not 100% efficient, so some of the potential energy is lost. This is why the POTENTIAL energy does not equal the INITIAL energy.
Nothing about the second law "clearly states that it (matter) can't have been here forever". It's a ridiculous statement.
Call me a skeptic, but isn't it a little early in mans existance to decide we have definitve answers on energy? More accurately the laws are really "From what we can tell so far.......... " Maybe we do have a slam dunk on this one, but the earth was flat and the stars did evolve around the earth......
By the way, evolution works for me, but where exactly did that first cell that split itself come from?
-SM- _________________ " Tell 'em were coming....and hell is coming with us ! "
It is often asserted by creationists that the evolution of life is impossible because this would require an increase in order, whereas the second law of thermodynamics states that "in any natural process the amount of disorder increases", or some similar claim. "Entropy" is frequently used as a synonym for "disorder".
Of course, this represents a serious misunderstanding of what thermodynamics actually states. It can be explained patiently (or less than patiently, after the 1000th iteration or so) that entropy only strictly increases in an isolated system; that there are no completely isolated systems in nature, save maybe the universe as a whole; and that the whole idea of isolated systems is really an abstraction for pedagogical purposes; but still the creationist won't let go. There just has to be some reason why "order cannot come from disorder", and the reason must be in thermodynamics. That's the science that talks about order and disorder, isn't it?
In fact, it isn't. Look through any thermodynamics text. You will find discussions about ideal gases, heat engines, changes of state, equilibrium, chemical reactions, and the energy density and pressure of radiation. Entropy and the second law are powerful tools that allow one to calculate the properties of systems at equilibrium. At the very most, there may be a paragraph or two somewhere in that thick book alluding to some kind of relation between entropy and "disorder". Writers of pop science books like to make the same kind of relation, and will ask their readers to consider things like the state of their rooms--tidy or messy--and compare the (supposed) decrease in orderliness of the room over time to the "tendency of entropy to increase". But what of entropy and disorder? Where does that identification fit into the structure of thermodynamics?
The answer is, nowhere. It is not an axiom or first principle, it is not derived from any other basic principles, and nowhere is it required or even used at all to do any of the science to which thermodynamics applies. It is simply irrelevant and out of place except as an interesting aside.
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Go spend a few minutes researching thermodynamics and evolution, and what you'll find is a mathematical formula that defines entropy. Man isn't claiming to have all the definitive answer on energy. What we have is a mathematical model that describes what happens. Given certain criteria, this is what happens. Always, every time.
Apply any relevant scenario where you can mathematically describe the factors, and the result will conform to the equation. Trying to apply the formula to a non-mathematical scenario will result in gibberish.
Two and two will always equal four. This formula is just a variation of the same. You can observe it yourself if you understand the math. Intelligent Design people are trying to apply a non-math event to a mathematical formula, then claiming the law violates evolution.
Does a tomato plant have more energy than the seed it grew from? Of course it does. Nothing in Thermodynamics prevents that from happening. ID people try to use the 2nd law to demonstrate why this shouldn't be possible. Nonsense.
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