not a scientist (as evidenced by this post)
from:
http://www.islam-online.net/English/Science/2002/12/article04.shtml?
"Evolutionary theory is an assertion that is advanced by totally ignoring this basic and universally true law of physics. The mechanism offered by evolution totally contradicts [The Second Law of Thermodynamics]. "
This guy seems to put together a compelling argument. I know it’s bogus and many of you can debunk it - anyone care to give it a whirl?
The second law of thermodynamics states (in so many words) that in a closed system, you can’t finish a process with more energy than you began.
But the Earth isn’t a closed system - it receives energy from the sun, so the argument is invalid.
Obligatory talk-origins links.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/thermo.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html#thermo
In short, he doesn’t understand the second law of thermodynamics, nor does he understand evolution.
Oh, I see that the author argues that point with ‘order cannot arise from chaos’ or some such…
Sand grains are pretty randomly shaped, the wind blows at random and yet quite orderly patterns emerge on a breezy beach.
However, it’s nice to see a little unity between fundamentalist Christians and Muslims.
That guy obviously doesn’t know his MC Hawking WARNING: explicit lyrics!!
What’s the Arabic form for “Jack Chick?”
For instance a Maxwell Demon is not impossible (see any refrigerator), but it uses more energy than it creates. (So leaving your fridge open in the summer will heat, not cool, your kitchen. Winter too.)
This should probably be moved to Great Debates and I’m sure a mod will be along to do it.
The author states that external energy is unusable without a conversion system such as photosynthesys or the digestive tract of an animal. That argument ignores that there were many evolutionary steps before photosynthesys. The misuse of the second law of thermodynamics is one I’ve gotten so used to I’ve almost stopped trying to argue it.
Yeah, saw this on the ForteanTimes site. Quickly stopped reading it when I saw:
The theory of evolution says nothing about how life arose, merely how different species have come into being. That first ancestor could have been created whole by God Himself, as far as Darwin was concerned.
No need for GD. It’s pretty clear that the Second Law of Thermodynamics and evolution is compatible.
From the link:
Eh?
The “mechanism”, in Darwin’s own words:
There is certainly nothing in the above which violates any natural law, especially the Second Law of Thermo.
Er…the above quote by Darwin is from The Origin of Species, Chap. XV, “Recapitulation and Conclusion”
Well, we know evolution isn’t possible, because if it were, a lot of my coworkers couldn’t exist. Dinosaurs, all of 'em.
I don’t think that the reason for evolution not breaking the laws of thermodynamics is that the earth is a closed system. We could easily extend the system to be the solar system or beyond so that for all intents and purposes the system is closed.
I believe that the real reason is that entropy is not really disorder. As discussed in the talkorigins links from an earlier poster.
Entropy is disorder!! Though it doesn’t serve well as an exact defintion as a general defintion entropy=disorder is a good one.
The reason why evolution works is that as a process it produces more disorder than it creates order.
This is one of the oldest, lamest, and most thoroughly debunked anti-evolution arguments out there. If you run into someone still using it, it should tell you a lot about that person. IMHO, of course.
Usama bin Ladin.
In that case, the total entropy of the solar system will be increasing, but the entropy of the Earth can still decrease, as long as there’s a comparable (or greater) increase in the entropy of the other parts of the system (in this case, the Sun).