Help me understand the early stages of evolution.?

Question

To get amino acids you need a primordial soup with a non oxydizing environment. However if there is any water in the environment it causes the environment to be oxidizing. Also UV rays destroy amino acids. And when an amino acid that is conducive to life is created, many more which aren't conducive to life are created. Also how does the theory of evolution explain the ramifications of the Second law of Thermodynamics as it relates to early cell construction. And the Law of chaos which states that things tend to go to disorder and only focused energy will bring them back to order. Also how do we achieve critical mass with the amino acids to create protoplasm while eliminating the amino acids that aren't conducive to life? Just curious.

Answer 1

Some of your assumptions are true. Some are false. And some are just accepting the propaganda by creationists as "science."

"To get amino acids you need a primordial soup with a non oxydizing environment." True. Oxidizing environments will break down amino acids.

"However if there is any water in the environment it causes the environment to be oxidizing." False. Water is not (by itself) oxidizing. Oxygen is. Fluorine is. Hydrogen peroxide is. But water, no.

"Also UV rays destroy amino acids." Part true, part false. UV rays break the types of chemical bonds found in amino acids, but they also provide energy to create them in the first place. This is why UV is so dangerous to us ... if it was just breaking bonds this would be a minor problem ... it is the way that it can reform new bonds, which in the DNA of an already-replicating organism can be disastrous.

"And when an amino acid that is conducive to life is created, many more which aren't conducive to life are created." True. Although it's hard to tell if by "arent' conducive to live" you mean "neutral" or "destructive to life". If the latter then this is not necessarily true.

"how does the theory of evolution explain the ramifications of the Second law of Thermodynamics as it relates to early cell construction." Here is where you're stepping into the creationist misinterpretation of the 2nd Law. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics only applies to a closed system with no outside source of energy. The environments that we're talking about had energy sources, potentially many of them ... the sun, ocean vents, volcanic heat, tidal energy, lightning, etc.

"And the Law of chaos which states that things tend to go to disorder and only focused energy will bring them back to order." What is this "Law of chaos?" This is where it sounds like you've been reading the creationist propaganda a bit too deeply ... the "law of chaos" is a name they use for the 2nd Law as it sounds more dramatic and final ... but it is a linguistic trick to first equate entropy with "disorder", and then equate disorder with "chaos." These are three different concepts in science.

"Also how do we achieve critical mass with the amino acids to create protoplasm while eliminating the amino acids that aren't conducive to life?" Pockets of concentration of certain types of amino acids are quite possible. Remember, this is happening in a roiling sea of billions of chemical reactions fueled by all combinations of energy sources ... and this is happening in every square foot of ocean, at every layer, in lakes, upper atmosphere, lower atmosphere, etc. every single second, for centuries, millenia, a million millenia (a billion years). And this is happening on millions, perhaps a billion, similar planets in the universe. The concentration only has to happen once.

So if you're trying to say that the origin of life is a difficult event, nobody disagrees. If you're saying that it is physically *impossible*, then this is simply not true.

There are many many different theories of the origins of life. Don't just read the creationist sites intent on dismissing them.

Start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life

Answer 2

The presence of water does not mean the environment is oxidizing. An aqueous solution can be either oxidizing or reducing, depending on the Eh. Reducing environments were likely present in ocean vents, groundwater aquifers, and in saturated soils.

I also threw in another link related to thermodynamics that shows how certain transformations occur in only one direction because they move from a high energy state to a low energy state, and the only way to change from a low energy state is to add energy. The problem with the second law is that there is no single way to measure order or disorder. So 'disorder' as measured by an increase in potential energy, can actually lead to a higher level of organization (such as amino acids) as along as the potential energy is lower for the more organized state.

Answer 3

Just curious:
This is a biochemistry question, not an evolutionary one. There are many great books that answer your question, though I highly doubt you are actually willing to looking for an answer. "The Ancestor's Tale" and "The Selfish Gene" both by Richard Dawkins contain great chapters on the subject (you only have to read one chapter!). Also, Bill Bryson's, "A Short History of Just About Everything" contains a great description. Do a little homework and open your eyes. You can take aspirin for headaches and midol for any cramps.

Answer 4

don know
geez, one course in freshman biology n everybody's a genius

everybody knows u got a 700 club membership card in your purse

Answer 5

God created us all. DUH!!!!!!!!!!