Where Does Complexity Come From? (Big Picture Ep. 3/5)
This video is about the difference between complexity and entropy, and how complex things like life can arise from disorder. Thanks to Google Making and Science for supporting this series,...
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The universe as a whole evolves towards increasing entropy, or disorder -- a tendency physicistscall the Second Law of Thermodynamics.This movement toward disorganization might lead you to think that organized structures– like, say, living beings – would never spontaneously come into existence.Of course entropy can go down in part of the universe -- you can trade a decrease in entropyin one place (like cooling water so it crystallizes into ice) for an equal or larger increasein entropy somewhere else (like heating the back of your fridge).Order increases here, but only at the cost of decreasing order there.But we can still ask: why do intricate, complex structures come into being in the universe,if the overall tendency is toward increasing disorder?The secret is that...
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The universe as a whole evolves towards increasing entropy, or disorder -- a tendency physicistscall the Second Law of Thermodynamics.This movement toward disorganization might lead you to think that organized structures– like, say, living beings – would never spontaneously come into existence.Of course entropy can go down in part of the universe -- you can trade a decrease in entropyin one place (like cooling water so it crystallizes into ice) for an equal or larger increasein entropy somewhere else (like heating the back of your fridge).Order increases here, but only at the cost of decreasing order there.But we can still ask: why do intricate, complex structures come into being in the universe,if the overall tendency is toward increasing disorder?The secret is that...
