2nd law of thermodynamics applies to information theory
From EvoWiki
Contents |
Claim
The second law of thermodynamics applies to information theory. It follows that genetic information will become increasingly degraded as it gets repeatedly copied over time.
Sources
- Kofahl, Robert E., and Kelly L. Segraves, 1975. The Creation Explanation: a Scientific Alternative to Evolution, p. 37.
- Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Master Books, Arkansas, pp. 38-40.
Responses
- No, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics doesn't apply to information theory. While information theory does include a concept called 'entropy' which is not entirely dissimilar to the 'entropy' of thermodynamics, the two entropies are not synonymous, any more than the card game called 'bridge' is synonymous with the 'bridge' that lets cars drive across a river without getting wet.
- add more responses
Fallacies contained in this claim
External Links
- Mark Isaak's page for this claim [1]
- CreationWiki's comments [2]
- Davisson, Gordon, 4/18/2001. Information and microevolution, [3].
- Davisson, Gordon, 7/14/2002. Re: Simple Thermodynamics Argument, [4].
- Lambert, Frank L., The Second Law of Thermodynamics! [5]
Further Reading
- Shannon, Claude E., 1948. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27: 379-423 and 623-656. Reprinted in Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1949;
- Shannon's seminal paper on information theory [6]
Related claims
- 2nd law of thermodynamics prohibits evolution
- Complexity doesn't come from simplicity
- How could information, such as in DNA, assemble itself?
- Cybernetic simulations show Darwinian processes don't produce order
- Evolutionary algorithms smuggle in design in the fitness function
- Gluons don't exist since no one has seen them, so it must be God who holds the nucleus together
Acknowledgments
- 172.131.98.73
