On Jun 27, 2014, at 10:15 AM, Stephen C. Rose wrote: > How fixed is the scientific argument for this law? Certainly in this century > there have been some who have chipped away at the idea of entropy as a fixed > star in an otherwise fallible (subject to revision) scientific universe. And > I am unaware of where Peirce stood on this matter. Were his notions of > continuity and logic uneasy in the shadow of the assertion that everything > falls apart?
Over the past three decades, the public concept of entropy has become the separated from the scientific concept of entropy. The concept of entropy as a scientific concept is a rigorous mathematic concept. It is an abstract concept, strictly limited to the flow of HEAT (not matter) in a closed system AT EQUILIBRIUM. It is an extraordinary useful quantitative concept for describing heat engines of all types - steam engines, gasoline engines, Diesel engines, nuclear power plants which are powered by the heat released by nuclear decay to create steam, etc. Entropy calculations describe the lack of 100% efficiency of heat engines, that is, the amount of energy not available to do work. Such entropy calculations are a critical component of the economics of many, many mechanical systems, as improved efficiency may infers higher profits. One biological application of the entropy concept is in nutrition. Maximizing energy efficiency can be one goal for designing nutritional studies and breeding programs for animal husbandry. More and faster weight gain increases the profits for farmers. The entelechy of the application of heat efficiency calculations to steam engines and animal husbandry are comparable. The entelechy of applied mathematics can also run in the opposite direction. Another biological analogy could be taken as the amount of energy an organism excretes in its feces. Since regular defecation is an essential element of good health, physicians may prescribe adding undigestible "fiber" to the diet, resulting in increased defecation and hence decreased efficiency of the body as a heat engine. Same concept, opposite purpose with respect to efficiency. Thus, the entelechy of the application of heat efficiency calculations may be directly opposite to one another, that is, human purposes may drive the effort to improve biological function by deceasing heat efficiency. Both the positive and negative applications rest on the same MATHEMATICAL concept of entropy. In the past three decades, certain philosophers have sought to describe life as a heat engine. While the capacity to defecate is a necessary attribute of human anatomy and physiology, very few biologists or physicians assert that defecation is the source of procreation or genetics. Such philosophers apparently desire to replace scientific facts with convenient narratives that support a non-factual philosophy. I view such "convenient narratives" as merely just another political facet of philosophers personalities that are destined for the philosophical dustbin of history. Cheers Jerry
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