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2 hours ago
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A few years ago, in Nick Lane’s book, The Vital Question: Why Is Life the Way It Is?, I read a sentence that went something like this: “Consider the stars. They pay for their ordered existence by emitting enormous amounts of energy into the universe.”
Every now and then, I come back to that idea, and it pushes me to think further. In this post, I’ll try to summarize and organize the thoughts that stemmed from it. I don’t have a scientific background to back up what I’m saying with equations or academic papers; this is simply an extension of that phrase I once read, an exercise in reasoning.
The reasoning in 5 steps
1. Basic principle: entropy tends to increase
The second law of thermodynamics states that in a closed system, total entropy (the degree of disorder) tends to increase. This isn’t a “force” but a statistical tendency: states of greater disorder are simply more numerous and, therefore, more probable.
2. The fastest paths to entropy are the most probable
If a system can evolve along different paths, it will tend to follow those that lead it most quickly to a state of greater entropy. Sometimes, the most efficient route to global disorder involves creating intermediate ordered structures.
3. Ordered structures as efficient shortcuts to greater entropy
Examples like hurricanes or stars themselves show that highly organized systems can emerge as transient forms that channel energy into their surroundings in an incredibly effective way. They don’t contradict the second law; instead, they serve it more efficiently.
4. Life as an ordered structure that accelerates entropy
Living beings are an extreme example of internal order. To maintain it, we consume energy from our environment (sun, food) and release heat and waste. In practice, we are highly efficient channels for transforming concentrated energy into more dispersed forms, accelerating the increase of global entropy.
5. Hypothesis: Life as a consequence of accelerating entropy
This is where it all comes together. If the states of greatest entropy are the most probable (Point 1), and there are paths that accelerate the arrival to that state (Point 2), then those paths will be statistically favored. Since life is one of these efficient routes (Point 4), its emergence ceases to be an improbable accident and becomes a logical consequence: one of the most probable trajectories that matter can follow under certain conditions.
Conclusion
After organizing these ideas, I asked the AI Gemini if similar concepts existed. The answer was yes, and it mentioned two main fields: Dissipative Structures (Ilya Prigogine) and Dissipation-Driven Adaptation (Jeremy England). Perhaps I’ll research them and their work a bit and continue writing about this topic. Just perhaps.
Note: Much of the wording in this text was revised and polished with the help of Google’s Gemini to ensure clarity.
