--- In ontheoriginofspecies@y..., this_science_guy <no_reply@y...>
wrote:
> > How do you mean "re-consideration of the 2nd law"? If you are
> > concerned with there continuing to be order in spite of an
infinity
> > of elapsed time, then let me share with you how I see it! Think
> > about assigning an increasing number, R, to the amount of
randomness
> > in the universe at any one time, T! Give it the value R = 1 at
the
> > present time; T = 0! When T =1, R =2! When T =2, R = 4! When T
=
> > 3, R = 8! For any given T, R = 2^T; that is, 2 raised to the
power
> > T! At any time in the future R, increases as T increases! For
any
> > time in the past, it is clear that as T increases "negatively", R
> > decreases! So, for example, if T = -5, then R = 1/32! Clearly,
> > there is some randomness at any time in the past, as well as in
the
> > future, only the randomness in the past is always less as we go
> > backwards in time! Maybe this exercise clarifies your concern!
> >
> > Charles
>
> I have pored over my thermodynamics texts and can't find any of the
> above mentioned equations with regard to Entropy or the 2nd Law.
For
> that matter, I couldn't find a version of the 2nd Law that stated
that
> "randomness" was increasing with time: it's mostly about tendencies
> toward thermal equilibrium and expanding chemical states.
>
> That aside, I think the "Design" people have, at best, a poor
> understanding of randomness, insofar as they often contrast it with
> order. Anyone whose watched a lottery drawing can tell you that
order
> is as much a part of randomness as disorder, to the point that
getting
> a completely disordered result from a drawing - no consecutive
numbers;
> no groupings - is less likely than getting a result with some
order.
> By definition, for a process to be random, it must be able to
produce
> order at some finite probability.

I am not familiar with what you claim! I did not know that "a
necessity for there to be order at some finite time in the future" is
part of the definition of randomness! I can understand it, though,
as there are many types of probability processes that are, in simple
language, irregular! I will look into it and see what's up!

Charles


> If the universe is truly random, it
> must be able to produce order - preventing order from arising out
of
> randomness requires as much "Design" as the ID folks place on order.