http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005 by the authors Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:29:49 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/20/215602.php#comment-172934 Evolution, Entropy, and Open Systems: The law of entropy in science teaches that the natural (or spontaneous) tendency of all matter is towards greater disorder and randomness - not greater order and complexity, as evolution would teach. Contrary to what evolutionists claim, entropy does occur in open systems as well as in closed systems. After all, we discovered entropy here on Earth which is an open system in relation to the Sun. The difference between an open system and a closed system is not entropy but the availability of useful energy. Evolutionists believe that in an open system, such as the Earth, the unlimited energy available from the Sun will provide matter with the ability to overcome entropy so that matter can evolve towards ever greater levels of complexity, order, and organization. However, it is not sufficient to have just enough energy to produce substantial levels of order. There also has to exist an energy converting and directing mechanism. Living things possess complex energy converting and directing mechanisms to temporarily overcome entropy so that a seed, for example, can develop into a tree. The question is how did biological order and such mechanisms come into being in the first place at a time when there was no energy converting and directing mechanism in Nature to overcome entropy. Only a very minimal level of order will ever be possible as a result of chance or spontaneous processes. Amino acids, for example, have been shown to come into existence by chance (spontaneously) but not proteins. Functioning protein molecules require that the various amino acids be in a precise sequence, just like the letters in a sentence. There is no evidence that chance processes can accomplish this - especially the many millions of protein molecules found in even the simplest cell. There is no innate chemical tendency for amino acids to bond with one another in a sequence. Any one amino acid can just as easily bond with any other. The only reason at all for why the various amino acids bond with one another in a precise sequence in the cells of our bodies is because they're directed to do so by the sequence of molecules found in the genetic code. If they're not in the proper sequence protein molecules will not function. The great British scientist Sir Frederick Hoyle has said that the probability of the sequence of molecules in the simplest cell coming into existence by chance is equivalent to a tornado going through a junk yard of airplane parts and assembling a 747 Jumbo Jet! We are so accustomed to seeing evolution of technology all about us (new cars, planes, boats, ships, inventions, etc.) that we assume that Nature must work the same way also. Of course, we forget that all those new gadgets and technology had a human designer behind them. Nature, however, doesn't work the same way! Entropy is still the biggest scientific obstacle to evolution. Entropy is the opposite direction of evolution. The natural and spontaneous tendency of matter is always towards greater disorder and randomness - not greater order and complexity. Science cannot prove we are here by either design (creation) or by chance (evolution), but people should be free to study the evidence from both sides and decide for themselves which has better scientific support. Researchers and highly qualified scientists at the Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org) of San Diego, California can provide much helpful material to the interested public on this and other issues concerning creation and evolution. Sincerely, Babu G. Ranganathan* (B.A. Theology/Biology) www.religionscience.com Also by the author: The Natural Limits of Evolution is available for reading at www.religionscience.com 172934@blogcritics.org Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:29:49 EDT