Evolutionists... what is your argument for this?

Question

Please keep in mind that I am not challenging you to prove evolution or disprove creation- I don't want this to end up into a 100-pg. long argument of "additional details" and "edits." Besides, I think those arguments are kinda pointless on Yahoo Answers because, let's face it, NOBODY is gonna read this and think, "Oh, she says to prove Evolution and I can't so I'll become a Creationist" or vice versa. Plus, there's no way on Yahoo Answers to readily debate back-and-forth, so.... I'm just asking for your own feedback.

Now, here's my question: The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that "entropy of the universe increases during any spontaneous process" (this was the shortest and plainest definition I could find. it's at www.entropysite.com if you want to look it up.) Entropy means "disorder," right? More energy goes into a proccess than comes out of it. Order goes to disorder. Everything goes from "better" to "worse."
Darn, I'm running out of space here. Read on please....

...ok, moving on. So according to evolution, we came from single-celled organisms that gradually grew over millions of years, resulting into the myraid of animals and plants we have today.
Obviously, man is by far the most intelligent creature on this Earth- although some of the stuff we do would suggest otherwise. But point is, he's progressed. Gotten "better." He's survived, so he's the fittest.
(Also, the Big Bang theory- suggests that there was a huge explosion, resulting into the universe.) So, it goes from "worse" to "better."

So how do you reconcile the 2nd law of thermodynamics with the evolution theory? How do they fit together?

(PS. Sorry I took so long to add the details.)

kramback- Hm, that's interesting. OK, I will look that up later. Right now it's late and I'm tired.

Answer 1

What kramback1 said.

And.... Considering the age of the universe, I think evolution of humans, existing only a few thousand years, is not a reliable factor in your equation.

Evolution is not applicable only to humans, of course. So, if you look at the PLANET, rather than an individual species, you may agree digression is indeed taking place. Additionally, one must consider and critique the notion that while human beings are intelligent in that we have a greater ability than other creatures to think, one could also argue we are the less wise of the creatures in that we are destroying the home in which we live.... something no other creature is doing. We also have developed medical practices that save to reproduce offspring humans which would have otherwise died, thus weakening the species. Again, something no other creature does. So, again, your argument of entropy of the universe increasing during any spontaneous process (order goes to disorder... better to worse... etc) actually favors Evolution.

Answer 2

Entropy increase applies to a closed system. The Earth receives massive amounts of energy from the sun, making it an open system and able to decrease entropy (while entropy increases for the sun). This energy allows things to happen on Earth that could not happen otherwise.

Answer 3

I'll guess you are asking "Then how can life go from worse to better?" If you were trying to disprove the 2nd law of thermodynamics, you could ask "How can a cloud of dust (worse) become a galaxy (or solar system, or star)? (better-more orderly)" But people generally can see how gravity could cause this to happen.

But I think you are using the 2nd law to cast doubt on evolution instead. Life looks more orderly than no life, complex life more orderly than single-celled life. So order is coming from disorder, seeming to make evolution incompatable with the 2nd Law, when it is explained as "Entropy means disorder". But when it is explained "More energy goes into a proccess than comes out of it.", life on Earth is constantly getting power from the sun.

So I say that natural processes such as gravity and evolution can seem to bring order out of disorder, without violating the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

Answer 4

Let's start with a couple things.

First off, the Earth is not a closed system. Many things on Earth are closed, but the flow of energy is not one of them, as we are constantly receiving energy from the sun.

Next, the second law of thermodynamics is, "Heat cannot of itself pass from a colder to a hotter body." In other words, thermal energy always flows from a hot body to a cold body, and a hot body cannot extract heat from a cold body. Entropy is the byproduct of the transfer of energy from something at a higher energy level to something else of a lower energy level.

Entropy is not disorder or chaos. Rather, it's the breakdown of energy. In reality, there is always some form of loss when energy is transferred. Transformers change electricity into magnetism and back, and the loss is translated into heat, for example.

Entropy always increases, true. But since there's a constant influx of energy into the systems of Earth, the net effect of entropy is not obvious.

In addition, entropic actions cause evolutionary processes. Mutations, which are tiny changes to genetic codes, occur during cell division. Sufficiently large numbers of mutations lead to new species and novel offspring.

Answer 5

Dear Sir:
I read to the end of your question.
Should you decide that you really do not desire
an arguement, possibly you will relish the
following concept and gnaw on it for a few weeks...

Various cultures have attempted to explain the creation
of "everything" in religious terms and stories. It is kind
of a mental food for the masses i would offer you. These
creation stories are not peculiar to the Christian side of
society going back some 2000 years. Other religions
have similar myths or tales about how we all came to be.

Some people waste their entire lives dwelling upon this issue. At the same time there are people in this world
who are starving for lack of the food necessary to
sustain their every day lives. Why not do something
creative and collect canned food to ship to an
impoverished nation and feed others. Be productive
with your spare time and help the people of this world
instead of wasting your intellect.

Now, you may ask, why on earth would I want to do
something like that? Answer: Because you can.

Answer 6

a million. it really is a misrepresentation, pretty a lot truly planned. medical statements about evolution are depending no longer only on assumptions yet on empirical information. 2. This argument criticizes round thinking supporters of evolution who declare that only uneducated human beings don’t settle for the validity of evolution and then outline “uneducated” to point no longer accepting evolution. there is a few reality to this grievance. 3. The unstated assumption right it truly is that historic previous is static and that former cases will be judged by skill of the criteria of the present or that the present will be judged by skill of the criteria of former cases. This attitude is named “ahistorical.” 4. it really is a pretend large large difference between “operational technology” and “historic technology.” easily, all technology is in accordance to theory and empirical information. human beings watched gadgets fall to the floor for most thousands of years earlier Newton conceived of gravity. 5. in actuality a repeat of (a million). 6. This boils right down to a grievance of philosophical naturalism because the classic foundation for medical inquiry. 7. this would only be a planned misrepresentation, it really is, a lie. No scientist has ever claimed that organic decision is evolution. 8. in actuality a repeat of (a million). 9. in actuality a repeat of (a million). 10. This grievance is so garbled that it might take quite a few paragraphs to straighten it out what it skill. 11. This grievance is irrelevant. 12. This grievance is irrelevant

Answer 7

Actually, the answer is pretty easy.
Your understanding of the 2nd Law is incorrect.
The 2nd law deals with energy, and its transformation.

Sooner or later the universe will run dow. Energy will no longer exist to be transfered, the process by which work is done. But as long as there is energy, transferance can take place.

It is really not that difficult to understand. The real problem is that most people either don't bother to understand or are mis-educated. There are lots of organizations, mainly those supporting creationism, that teach science wrong. They intentionally mislead people to try to persuade them that science is wrong and that their version of religion is correct.

Some good sites on this issue are:
http://2ndlaw.com/
The 2nd law and evolution:
http://2ndlaw.com/evolution.html

Answer 8

The second law of thermodynamics - it is called this because it is not the second law of the survival of the fittest or the second law of life.

Life processes are somewhat unique - when entropy - disorder (the mutation of a gene, for instance, or the failure of DNA to properly replicate itself) leads to a characteristic that better enables a creature to survive in its environment, that creature will have a distinct advantage over its "normal" ancestors.

Hence, from entropy comes life's complexities.

Answer 9

It takes an incredible increase in entropy in order to make a just a few more organized/intelligent beings. Just think a bit. We need to take in an awful lot of energy in the form of food. We take that ordered food and create heat, and lots of it. Overall, the loss of organization around us, more than makes up for the organization within us

Answer 10

Life forms are not closed systems. Therefore the 2nd law of Thermondyamics does not apply. You can look it up. True, entropy always, without exception, increases over time in a closed system.