World Affairs Board - View Single Post - Evolution: Violates law of thermodynamics

Bulgaroctonus · 01-04-2006, 19:46 PM

Well said, Dale.

I'm going to hammer another nail into the coffin of this stupid article.

A misconception based on thermodynamics is the claim that evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics. The second law holds that a closed system will become less ordered, or will tend to a state of thermal equilibrium. The misconception is that this tendency would rule out evolution, which is taken to mean an increase in order. However, the system in which evolution operates – life on Earth – is not a closed system in the thermodynamic sense, since it receives an energy input from the sun. If evolution were impossible under thermodynamics, then so would be the growth of plants; however, it is not.

01-04-2006, 19:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Bulgaroctonus *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 10-29-04 Location: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Posts: 1,139 Country:	Well said, Dale. I'm going to hammer another nail into the coffin of this stupid article. A misconception based on thermodynamics is the claim that evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics. The second law holds that a closed system will become less ordered, or will tend to a state of thermal equilibrium. The misconception is that this tendency would rule out evolution, which is taken to mean an increase in order. However, the system in which evolution operates – life on Earth – is not a closed system in the thermodynamic sense, since it receives an energy input from the sun. If evolution were impossible under thermodynamics, then so would be the growth of plants; however, it is not.