Recent content by steenpat

My knowledge of physics/cosmology is limited but from what I've read in the wiki article entitled "heat death of the universe" there is some conflicting information on whether or not maximum entropy is ever reached. There is an idea that the universe will never reach a state of maximum entropy...

That makes quite a bit more sense. Again, following the seemingly random process of natural selection? Or if we adhere to determinism, then it was inevitable anyway.

I understand all these things, but it seems to be a circular reasoning, like the chicken/egg effect. Plus, with the virii/bacteria thing, they don't have any particular encoded feedback system that provides incentives to reproduce/eat, like the endorphins that humans feel. Actually, bacteria...

I think if anything, this suggests time as being cyclical. Coordinates being relative, there is actually something north of the north pole.

Why exactly are humans driven by a feeling to need to exist? It would seem to me, in a purely deterministic system that such a desire would be completely alien. I don't believe virii or bacteria have these feelings for instance, and they seem to get along just fine being driven by completely...

The other problem I have with the second law of thermodynamics is that it assumes there actually is a macroscopic state. Given the fractal nature of the universe, it leaves that question open. I also concede that what we observe to be dark energy seems to be evidence against the possibility of...

I suppose so. Didn't mean to get off-track; just adding on to the previous comment in support for my original thesis.

That would seem to be the result. However, it's left unanswered questions such as, how was the Big Bang possible in the first place? It would seem like the Big Bang and the second law are somehow at a paradox, or at the quantum level the second law can be violated somehow.

I'm sure this topic has been talked about ad infinitum, but I'd like to suggest a new angle. Here, I will be referencing the work of Nietzsche (actually from Indian philosophers originally), and the concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a...

zhermes: Thanks for destroying me. :) I assumed the second law meant entropy always increases, but apparently it can remain static as well; so basically what I said is all wrong and the system will reach maximum entropy at some point. Chronos: Would the system ever reach absolute zero or...

Ok, I neglected the forum rules for my first post. Hopefully I got it right this time. Here are a few ideas I have about the so-called heat-death hypothesis. First, if we take the wikipedia entry as a description, it's inherently false. It suggests that the universe reaches maximum entropy...