My forehead is bruised with slapping. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stephen Guerin Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2010 12:09 AM To: [email protected]; The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] entropy and uncertainty, REDUX
Yep, that's what Nick meant I assure you. He's slapping his forehead thrice for making that reversal. -S _____________________________________________________________ [email protected] (m) 505-216-6226 (o) 505-995-0206 sfcomplex.org | simtable.com | ambientpixel.com | redfish.com On Aug 5, 2010, at 12:04 AM, Russ Abbott wrote: > Nick, Good to hear from you. Nice description of entropy in animal > behavior! > > I agree with pretty much everything you say. I'm concerned about this > sentence, though. >> >> When entropy is low . i.e., when there is a particularly steep >> gradient in some part of the universe, Nature contrives a means for >> reducing that entropy and that means, paradoxically is to INCREASE >> entropy in some localized portion of the universe in order to more >> efficiently decrease it over all. > > By a particularly steep gradient, I assume you mean any sharp change > of some property. The gradient is in some property--not any particular > property, and especially not necessarily in entropy. > > I'm guessing you meant to say that Nature contrives a means for > increasing that entropy. (You did say it started out low. I agree > with that. Smoothing out the gradient would increase the entropy.) > > That would increase entropy locally and globally. > > -- Russ > > > On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 7:04 PM, Nicholas Thompson > <[email protected] > > wrote: > energy > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe > at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at > http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
