Does the below make a correct connect between the physics of the 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics and life, ecosystems ?
Charles
I wonder if you are familiar with the evolutionary schools of thought in cultural
anthropology derivative of Leslie A. White, who in "Energy and the Evolution of
Culture" ( in _The Science of Culture_ ) claimed:
"The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that the cosmos as a whole is breaking down
structurally and running down dynamcially; matter is becoming less organized and
energy more uniformly diffused. But in a tiny sector of the cosmos, namely in living
material systems, the direction of the cosmic process is reversed: matter becomes more
highly organized and energy more concentrated. Life is a building up process. But in
order to run counter to the cosmic current, biological organisms must draw upon free
energy in non-living systems, capture it and put it to work in the maintennce of the
vital process. All life is a struggle for free energy. Biological evolution is simply
an expression of the thermodynamic process that moves in a direction opposite to that
specified for the cosmos as a whole by the Second Law. It is a movement toward greater
organization, greater differentiation of structure, increased specialization of
function, higher levels of integration, and greater degrees of energy concentration "
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