Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihuxn.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!ihuxn!jho
From: jho@ihuxn.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Is randomness natural?
Message-ID: <1096@ihuxn.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Jun-85 21:59:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxn.1096
Posted: Wed Jun 12 21:59:29 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 13-Jun-85 02:41:53 EDT
References: <371@iham1.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 48

>     Just for a change of pace, I thought that I might raise a question that is
>  important to the investigation and practice of science and see how the
>  creationists and evolutionists respond.  This is the issue of what constitutes
>  a fundamental assumption or phenomena of nature that does not require any
>  further explanation.  Often it is the hidden assumptions that thwart effective
>  scientific investigations.  One specific phenomena that seems to be a good
>  candidate for treatment is randomness (entropy).  I was reminded of this topic
>  by a recent speaker at my church who expressed the sentiment that God Makes
>  Coincidences (GMC), implying that randomness is merely a statement of our
>  ignorance of details and purposes.

The classical definition of entropy is not based on randomness, but on
experimental observation. Statistical mecanics/thermodynamics provides
an interpretation of entropy in terms of disorder.  There is no
mystery behihd this  disorder as some religionists/creationists try to
to tell the uninformend.  In statistical thermodynamics, we identify the
entropy S in term of the number of the possible states W of a system.

	      S = k ln (W)

A simple example, taken from Denbigh's "The principles of Chemical Equilibrium",
illustrates this concept.

Let us consider a simple model of two crystals, each containing four
molecules.  The one crystal contains molecules of type A, whereas the
other contains molecules of type B.  The two crystal are separated
by a barrier:


		  A   A  |  B   B
			 | 
		  A   A  |  B   B

Since the crystals are isolated the number of states is 1.  Therefore,
the statistical entropy is k ln(1) = 0 .  (Intechanging the possitions
of the molecules within a crystal does not change the number of states,
since the molecules within a crystal are identical.)

If we lift the barrier then the molecules can mix.  The number of states W
is in this case is 8!/(4!*4!) = 70 due to the interchangability of
the possitions of the A and the B molecules.  The entropy would
be = k ln (70), and the increase in entropy is k ln (70).  The assumption
that we made is that each configuration has an equal probability.
Each of the disordered configurations has the same probability as the
ordered one.  Naturally, we have more disordered configurations.
-- 
Yosi Hoshen, AT&T-IS
Naperville, Illinois, (312)-979-7321, Mail: ihnp4!ihuxn!jho