Does the theory of evolution contradict the second law of thermodynamics?

Answer 1

The only example of the second law of thermodynamics being reversed is when someone (by design) sets out to slow its effects.

The Physical world is deteriorating. 2nd Law observed

The car needs painted -- 2nd Law observed

the car engine needs replaced and repaired -- 2nd Law observed

Your face needs a lift -- 2nd Law observed

Only interference by thinking beings can change these things, and usually only temporarily.

So Yes, the Theory of Evolution directly contradicts the Law.

The Sun decreases in Diameter 5 feet every hour. The Second Law of Thermodynamics in action.

It was humorous reading the pathetic replies here by those who tried to force their Theory to fit onto the Law. It was like watching a person try to put the wrong sized bed sheet on a mattress to big for it.

Seriously some of you should go into comedy.

Answer 2

"Evolution violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics."

This shows more a misconception about thermodynamics than about evolution. The second law of thermodynamics says, "No process is possible in which the sole result is the transfer of energy from a cooler to a hotter body." [Atkins, 1984, The Second Law, pg. 25] Now you may be scratching your head wondering what this has to do with evolution. The confusion arises when the 2nd law is phrased in another equivalent way, "The entropy of a closed system cannot decrease." Entropy is an indication of unusable energy and often (but not always!) corresponds to intuitive notions of disorder or randomness. Creationists thus misinterpret the 2nd law to say that things invariably progress from order to disorder.

However, they neglect the fact that life is not a closed system. The sun provides more than enough energy to drive things. If a mature tomato plant can have more usable energy than the seed it grew from, why should anyone expect that the next generation of tomatoes can't have more usable energy still? Creationists sometimes try to get around this by claiming that the information carried by living things lets them create order. However, not only is life irrelevant to the 2nd law, but order from disorder is common in nonliving systems, too. Snowflakes, sand dunes, tornadoes, stalactites, graded river beds, and lightning are just a few examples of order coming from disorder in nature; none require an intelligent program to achieve that order. In any nontrivial system with lots of energy flowing through it, you are almost certain to find order arising somewhere in the system. If order from disorder is supposed to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics, why is it ubiquitous in nature?

The thermodynamics argument against evolution displays a misconception about evolution as well as about thermodynamics, since a clear understanding of how evolution works should reveal major flaws in the argument. Evolution says that organisms reproduce with only small changes between generations (after their own kind, so to speak). For example, animals might have appendages which are longer or shorter, thicker or flatter, lighter or darker than their parents. Occasionally, a change might be on the order of having four or six fingers instead of five. Once the differences appear, the theory of evolution calls for differential reproductive success. For example, maybe the animals with longer appendages survive to have more offspring than short-appendaged ones. All of these processes can be observed today. They obviously don't violate any physical laws.

Answer 3

It's a worn out question. Anyway...

Absolutely not. Evolution would not be possible without entropy of matter. Those claiming the 2nd law trumps evolution don't understand the 2nd law.

The 2nd law: matter in a closed system has a tendency to move towards maximum entropy.

Okay, understand, the system must be CLOSED. This means no outside energy of any type can effect the system. In the real world (Earth) no life is comprised in totality or in part by a closed system. Life is matter. All matter is subject to entropy. All life REQUIRES the entropy of neighboring matter in order to flourish.

Think of photosynthesis. As the entropy of the Sun increases, entropy in green plants decreases. Without the Sun's entropy, photosynthesis would not occur (no life would occur for that matter).

Don't get sucked into the "chaos" description of the 2nd law. The 2nd law does not state that all matter tends towards chaos. This is a common misinterpretation by creationists. The entropy of matter leads to order every day on countless levels. Entropy does not result in chaos. "Chaos" is not a part of the 2nd law.

The bottom line is, without entropy evolution could not possibly occur. If creationists want to disprove evolution they'd need to disprove the 2nd law first. Right now they've got it backwards.

There's so much more. If you really want to understand the 2nd law and thermodynamics in general, send me an email with specific questions. I'll address them.

Answer 4

No.

Second Law of Thermodynamics states that in a closed system, entropy will increase. This does not apply to evolution for two reasons:

1. Earth itself, where all evolution occurs (as we currently know it) is not a closed system. It receives energy from the Sun.

2. Though the universe is closed, the amount of order created by evolutionary processes are more than offset by the sheer amount of entropy created by the sun in producing the energy.


If evolution violated the 2nd Law the way some Fundamentalists claim, then the internal combustion engine would not work.

Answer 5

Tomorrow at noon, go outside and look up at the sky. If the sky is clear you will see a big bright yellow thing in the sky. Those of us who are knowledgeable about science call that the sun, and it provides the energy biological systems use to get rid of entropy.

Entropy is kind of like garbage. You are constantly making more of it. If you do enough work you can throw out your garbage and clean up your house. To do that work requires a source of energy. For the earth the sun provides that energy.

Creationists basically claim that just because you are constantly producing garbage that you can't clean up your house. Of course they are being incredibly wrong headed as usual.

The fact is photons received from the sun are much higher frequency than those given off by the earth. Since the earth maintains a roughly stable average temperature, It turns out that for every photon recieved from the sun the earth needs to radiate over twenty less energetic photons to balance the energy. This results in a huge loss of entropy enabling biological systems to flourish.

A theory is "a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena" [Random House American College Dictionary]. The term does not imply tentativeness or lack of certainty. For instance Human Sexual Reproduction is the theory that explains where babies come from.

Answer 6

Well, according to the answers above, no it doesn't! :)
But maybe I should be honest and say I have no clue what the second law of thermodynamics states and the explanations made my head hurt :(
However, I can say that if it did, scientists would have pointed that out long ago and the theory of Evolution wouldn't be ( to the delight of fundamentalist). Since they haven't, my guess is that Evolution doesn't violate any physics law so we cool.....
Phewwww.!!... Now, what the heck is themoa...thermodo....thermid....euh..
thermometer?

Answer 7

I don't even know what "entropy" is, so how could I say? It has to do with closed systems reaching a balance. Earth is not a closed system. It is open. That's the best I could do. Pretty basic, I guess. So how can a theory contradict a law? I do not know.

Answer 8

When you consider quanta mechanics...no. The possibilities of quantum theory leaves any contradiction in abstract phenomenal consequence. The universe is not closed per se when this theory is made posit but is reflected in countless aberrations in a multiverse

Answer 9

OK now you lost me. What does thermodynamics have to do with evolution theory or even witching a well?

Answer 10

No more than building a house does. Entropy increases overall in the universe, but can decrease locally. There's always energy involved, of course, and there's generally waste that offsets the local decrease, often in the form of heat.