Entropy Versus Evolution – A Philosophical Conundrum – Part 1

Entropy Versus Evolution – A Philosophical Conundrum – Part 1

As I grapple with understanding the effects of the laws, dictated by quantum physics on our physical experience of the world, these two suppositions seem to clash with one another.  Before we can conduct an in-depth discussion though, we need to define the two theories.

Entropy is the natural degradation of any ordered system.  Huh?  I’ll use the example given by Stephen Hawking in his fascinating little book, ‘A Brief History of Time’. 

Imagine a box with marbles inside and the marbles are all on the same side of the box.  You then cover the box and shake it.  When you raise the cover and look inside, the chances of the marbles all still being on that same side of the box are millions to one. 

They will have moved from an organized state to a less organized state.

Now you might argue that if I didn’t shake the box they would still be on the same side.  This argument is true as long as you accept that the universe is static, but it’s not.  In fact the universe is alive with motion and a myriad of vibrations, so you can’t assume the world is static.

A common example of entropy is metal rusting.  The organised state of pressed metal soon begins to degrade into an unorganised state.  As the metal erodes, it changes its physical state and turns into rust.  Another example, closer to home with my recent birthday, is how organisms age with time.  We reach full growth in our mid-twenties, then entropy kicks in and our bodies begin to slowly deteriorate until the system (our body) stops functioning all together; some faster than others.

What is even more interesting is the theory states any two systems put together will create twice the disorganisation.  So the higher the number of systems brought together, the greater the amount of entropy created.  If we had two boxes of marbles and combined them into one box, there would be twice the marbles, so twice the chance that they all would end up on the same side of the box. 

This is where the theory clashes with the classic interpretation of evolution.

Most people know that in 1859, Charles Darwin turned the understanding of natural science on it’s head with his paper ‘Origin of a Species’.  His supposition, that organisms physically changed to better interact with their changing environment, supplanted the concept that everything in nature was static and set.

Most people also agree with Darwin’s supposition, that the purpose of evolution is for the betterment of a species, or in other words, any species will always try to achieve a higher state of perfection or adaptation. 

He named this concept ‘Natural Selection’, as natural genetic mutations would provide opportunities for any species to have an advantage over the existing species, and that mutation would become the norm.  This theory was been shown to be valid when we consider the evolution of the peppered moth before and during the industrial revolution in London.

In this scenario, before the industrial revolution began, the white moth with black spots was quite well adapted to the current state of the trees and forest surrounding the city.  After the industrial revolution kicked in though, the soot from the factories began to darken the actual tree bark in the surrounding forests.  So, the white moths stood out and were an easy target for predators.  Evolution kicked in and the white peppered moth had to adjust or adapt to this new environment by becoming darker.  Over several generations that change did in fact occur.

Another modern example can seen in the variation of finches on the islands of the Galapagos atoll.  This variation in species, from island to island, was the impetus for Darwin’s theory.  It proves that our surroundings dictate our physical existence and experience. 

The assumption however, that this is an ever improving process, does not match up with the theory of entropy; therein lies the conundrum.

In Part 2, I’ll try to unify these theories into a usable, modern philosophy.

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