Knowledge & Illusion (for Romansh) (General)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Thursday, March 01, 2012, 01:34 (4651 days ago) @ David Turell

David,
> > > Don't let the second law confuse you. Life overcomes entropy. We have an input of energy from the sun which is following the Second Law. We don't have to. we can organize and stay organized because of that energy input, which e put to good use.
> > > > 
> > 
> > Call it nitpicking (I don't mean it as such) but the second law... no... I'm very sorry, Life is entirely subject to the second law as everything else is. 
> 
> Beg to disagree. Yes, the second law works with us, but as long as we absorb enough energy we will not disorganize. The body has an aging program purposely to get rid of us so others can move in.-That is entirely my point. -Without a constant influx of energy, it isn't possible for us to maintain our state. (Depending how you define state.) -The second law is *why* we need to always consume more energy. We sort of had this discussion a few months ago when I talked directly about the 2nd law. -If the second law didn't work to erode some of our energy off as heat, we could survive by only eating exactly what we need. But we need to eat more to offset the amount of energy we burn as heat: Our order can only be maintained by decreasing order someplace else, at a rate higher than what we actually use. Remember trophic levels: Trophic levels are determined by the 2nd law. The second law puts hard limits on what is and isn't possible in terms of food webs. It also describes why apex predators are less populous (in a precise mathematical relationship) than prey animals. -This isn't "working with" the 2nd law, it's working "within" the 2nd law.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"