Get Some Facts Please

"Evolution Gets a Boost: No Cost for Complexity"

I am sure the posts following this particular article are representative of any article on Evolution that gains the attention of the Creationists and Evolutionists communities. What is so terribly upsetting to me is the vitriol on both sides of the issue and the complete lack of references to scientifically valid research on complexity and Intelligent-Design.

First, the majority of research that supports AND stands up to scrutiny is outside of mainstream biology, paleontology and astronomy. The research generally revolves around mathematics (probability) and information theory. Unfortunately, these disciplines are not nearly as vocal, nor as easily demonstrated as most biology and paleontology is. Imagine the response you get when you bring a fossil bone or exotic animal to a class of children. "Ooohs" and "Aahs" abound and the kids all want to see what you have. Now imagine bringing diagrams of computational probability models or the entropy factors of information to the same class. Do you think you would get the same interest?

Second, to all those who post and posture on evolution and unload the tons of emotional baggage that goes with this subject, consider your motives and your own beliefs. If my faith is so ephemeral and ludicrous as you claim, why do I bother you so much that you feel the need to denigrate me and demean my conclusions with insults? Are you truly afraid that the lunatic rantings of a right-wing fringe could ever overcome the well-honed arguments and factually based evidence you present to the rational world? Or, as almost all the people I know who specialize in diagnosing and treating human behaviors (psychologists, social workers, coaches, life-coaches, etc.) would argue, is there something you personally fear about those who oppose your view. (A minor possibility with those who express such anger, is a psychological disorder.)

Now, to my friends on the creationist side of the aisle, your insults and rantings are just as damaging and evidence the same level of fear and anger as our evolutionist counterparts. If you believe in the sovereignty of God, then why do you act with such rancor at the advances of evolutionary science? God will not be mocked and in the end, everyone will know the truth.

Now, some facts:
Entropy
Entropy is an often misunderstood and misused concept. Entropy is a measure of unusable energy in a system, often termed disorder, it has more to do with work than with the arrangement of things. The First Law of Thermodynamics is fairly straight forward and easy to understand, neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed, only transformed. But we have all seen that no matter how much the price of gas is, we still have to put more in the tank to keep the engine running. Shouldn't we just be able to capture the exhaust and recycle the energy? This is where the Second Law of Thermodynamics enters the field. Once the gasoline has been burned, we have just as much matter (exhaust gases) as we had before the explosion occurred in the engine. However, the arrangement of the materials after the explosion is such that we cannot extract energy from them, whereas we could while the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen were captured in the petroleum molecules. The energy of the overall system hasn't changed, but we can no longer perform work with it. This is the heart of the Second Law. The entropy (measure of unusable energy) in a system cannot decrease. It may remain unchanged or increase.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics has another constraint. It only applies to a closed system. In our car engine model, the closed system consists of the gas tank, the engine and some (hypothetical) exhaust container. You could actually model this situation by running your car inside a closed garage. DON'T TRY THIS AS THE BUILD UP OF NOXIOUS GASES IS VERY, VERY DANGEROUS. As the car ran the gasoline would be continually turned into exhaust gases and the entropy of the garage would increase until it reached a maximum when all of the gasoline had been burned and converted into exhaust gas. However, you can decrease the entropy of the system if you open the garage door and bring in a new can of gasoline for the tank. (Yes, you would also have to ensure adequate oxygen was replenished as well.) But if you did open the door, the system (the garage) is no longer a closed system and the Second Law no longer applies.

The c/e (creationist/evolutionist) argument tends to go something like this. C: "The Second Law of Thermodynamics proves that evolution is not possible, because no system can increase in order over time." E: "Only for closed systems and anyone can see that the Earth is not a closed system, since it is continually receiving energy from the sun."

Both people have vastly oversimplified the issue. Neither addressed the real issues. The Second Law has been extended in fields such as information theory where complexity is actually studied, but it's usage is not as simplistic or well established as in Physics. Additionally, the concept is not entirely the same. Evolution has an issue with information theory in the idea that you cannot increase the amount of useful information in a system without adding something to the system.

The evolutionist's argument is also fallacious, in that, though the earth does continuously receive energy from the sun (and disperses some energy to space), the type of energy is much more relevant that the amount. Heat in and of itself cannot create life, organize molecules, or fuel evolution. What is required is an organizing principal. Some mechanism must exist that uses the available solar energy for useful work (reproduction, movement, etc.). Chlorophyll filled plants form the foundation of energy usage in nearly all of the earth's ecosystems. It is the ability (evolved or designed) to convert solar energy into food that the organism can use that makes life possible. From these organisms, the entire food chain derives it's energy. But you must realize that the organizing principal which makes use of the sun's energy exists independently of the solar energy it is using.

In my next post Information Theory and Evolution.