4 Physical order
4 Physical order
What is entropy?
Approximate meaning of the second law of thermodynamics
Formation of material order that appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics
Spontaneous formation of advanced material order is always based on ideational functions (Logical necessity)
Conditions for the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order
《 What is entropy? 》
The second law of thermodynamics loosely states that "entropy increses".
And, because of this law, physical order will be lost naturally. Things will break down into poeces naturally over time. Things will naturally diffuse, get homogenized, and become chaotic. So is information --ideas such as bodily senses and thoughts--. Information will also be lost. (By the way, the direction in which things get disorderly is the direction in which time passes).
Here, entropy represents the disorder of energy, i.e., heat and matter. More clearly, it represents the amount of messiness, not strength of messiness.
Simply put, entropy is the amount and measure of messiness (disorder).
Suppose, for example, there are 3 apples in box A and 5 apples in box B. Then, the total is 8.
Here, assuming that the apple represents messiness, the amount of messiness in box A is 3 and box B is 5. And, the total amont of messiness of A and B combined is 8 in total.
In this way, entropy, or the amount of messiness, is defined as being additive, like the number of apples.
By the way, the physical quantities that can be added are generally called extensive properties. Volume, mass, length, time, etc. are applicable. So is entropy.
On the other hand, appart from extensive properties, there are physical quantities that express strength and those are called intensive properties. Temperature, pressure, etc. are applicable.
Moreover, length, time, mass, temperature, etc. are concrete physical quantities, but entropy is a physical quantity that is obtained through calculation.
And, it is said that, as the temperature of an article rises, the entropy of the article increases, and the reason why is because the kineitc energy of innumerable substances constituting the article increases and the uncertainty of those substances's state increases.
In short, the word messiness can be paraphrased to indefiniteness, uncertainty, or irregularity. Furthermore, it can be said to be "decrease in order" or "loss of information" too.
And, in most of physical processes in this universe, messiness increases and physical order or information decreases. So, it is generally said that entropy increases. This is the general idea of the second law of thermodynamics.
Depending on this, in this universe, the physical order is lost naturally. And advanced physical order will not be formed naturally. (If the second law of thermodynamics is followed, it is natural that physical order breaks down into pieces in the passage of time.
On the contrary, though energy is spent, since heat is discharged to the outside, the entropy production in organisms is reduced accordingly. Entropy is an ever-increasing quantity and doesn't decrease, but, in organisms, the rate of increase slows down. And, it seems that order is produced partially through some effect due to the reduction of entropy production rate.
《 Approximate meaning of the second law of thermodynamics 》
1) Entropy naturally increases
2) Physical order can be formed naturally within a limited system
3) Isn't the formation of material order in the activities of humans and living things excessive?
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1) Entropy naturally increases
The second law of thermodynamics is commonly understood to state that entropy naturally increases.
Entropy here roughly refers to clutter or disorder. Therefore, the second law of thermodynamics can be understood to roughly state that clutter or disorder naturally increases. Conversely, order does not arise naturally unless there is some kind of cause or basis.
However, the exact meaning of the second law of thermodynamics seems to be very difficult to understand.
Still, if its meaning were to be expressed in a little more detail, it would be said to be something like this.
The total entropy of a system plus the total entropy of its external environment must either increase or remain unchanged.
In other words, when evaluated as a whole, the total entropy of a system and its external environment almost always increases. The entropy of this universe continues to increase, and the order continues to disappear.
2) Physical order can be formed naturally within a limited system
Even so, it is speculated that order can be formed within the limits specified by the second law of thermodynamics if it is limited to a limited area. For example, almost all human activities fall under the formation of order, regardless of whether it is a material order or an ideational order. And human society is full of order.
Of course, more heat (entropy / clutter / disorder) is generated and emitted into the external environment than is equivalent to the formation of order, so entropy increases overall.
Still, order can be formed naturally if it is limited to the inside of one system.
3) Isn't the formation of material order in the activities of humans and living things excessive?
However, it is not clear whether the activities of humans and living things --formation of physical order-- are carried out without violating the second law of thermodynamics. This is because first it is too complicated and it is surmised that it would be almost impossible to calculate changes in entropy.
Rather, the activities of humans and living things seem to be too good. This is because, although it is a normal thing for living humans, if we evaluate it at the atomic or molecular level calmly, it is very advanced, sophisticated, and strict.
The activities of humans and living things are made up of countless cells. And cellular activity is brought about by various physical events within the cells. However, the movement of substances involved in these physical events is extremely sophisticated and strict. And, despite this, there is no fine-grained physical force within cells that can bring about such movement in the constituent substances.
Therefore, in the strict sense of the word, there seems to be no physical cause for the various activities carried out by humans and living things. Furthermore, also from the second law of thermodynamics, which states that clutter and disorder naturally increase, it appears impossible for humans and living things to do so.
For this reason, it is rather suspected that excessive material order is being formed in the activities of humans and living things, even more so than the energy consumed --heat or entropy discharged into the external environment--. Their activities may violate physical laws such as the second law of thermodynamics. Such suspicions cannot be denied.
《 Formation of material order that appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics 》
1) It is not yet possible to clearly determine whether the bodily activities of humans and living things are legal or not
2) Formation of material order that appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics
3) A framework in which the formation of excessive material order does not violate the laws of physics (Prediction)
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1) It is not yet possible to clearly determine whether the bodily activities of humans and living things are legal or not
The bodily activities of humans and living things fall under the formation of an advanced and dynamic material order. Still, it is not necessarily clear whether the activity is legally carried out within the stipulations of the second law of thermodynamics.
In the first place, the bodily activities of humans and living things are far too complex to be evaluated in terms of the movement of underlying substances. Therefore, it is assumed that it is almost impossible to calculate the entropy change in that activity. Legality cannot necessarily be determined.
Moreover, almost all human bodily activities are always based on thoughts formed in consciousness.
(This is clearly determined from the fact that the muscular movements of vocalization are always based on thoughts formed in consciousness. There is a point of contact between thoughts (ideas) and matter, and thoughts, ideas, and consciousness are physical, and matter can move based on ideas, at least within living body such as cells. And it is assumed that this kind of framework occurs in almost all bodily activities --formation of advanced and dynamic material orders-- of humans and living things).
In other words, consciousness is involved in the bodily activities of humans and living things. For this reason, it is even more difficult to determine whether the activity is occurring without violating the second law of thermodynamics.
2) Formation of material order that appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics
In addition to the formation of order by humans and living things, it is speculated that there are physical phenomena in which excessive material order is formed and appears to violate the laws of physics such as the scond law of thermodynamics in appearance. These are the following two. (There may be others).
A) Process of forming crystals of various substances
B) Process of realizing various physical events in living bodies such as cells
First, the movement of substances in these physical events has characteristics or requirements such as minuteness, accuracy, individuality, difference, flexibility, cooperativeness, and integratedness.
However, there is no fine-grained physical force that can bring these characteristics to the movement of individual substances.
For this reason, in these physical events, unusual movements of substances occur, and an excessive material order appears to be formed. Those excessive order formation first appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics. Furthermore, they are presumed to violate the law of inertia and the law of conservation of energy.
3) A framework in which the formation of excessive material order does not violate the laws of physics (Prediction)
However, the physical events described above actually occur. For this reason, it is expected that the movement of substances in them does not violate the aforementioned physical laws, but, rather, some unknown physical framework under which their movements can occur unconstrained by the restrictions of physical laws may occur in those events.
It is presumed to be as follows.
First, in order for the physical events that correspond to the formation of an advanced, dynamic material order to be fulfilled, it is essential that the ideational functions of measurement and computation are broadly involved in the entire system. (The realization of the above-mentioned characteristics or requirements is only possible on the basis of these wide-area ideational functions. In order for an advanced and dynamic material order to be formed, it is essential that it be based on feedback control by wide-area ideational functions). And intelligence (consciousness) is the only thing that can fulfill a wide range of ideational functions.
Therefore, it is expected that a large consciousness emerges in the physical events described above, regardless of whether it is inanimate or living. (By the way, consciousness is formed from the ideational functions of measuring action and computing action among the physical actions of energy, (which is the component of the componential substances of the system). Therefore, consciousness, thoughts, and ideas are physical orders, although they are ideational).
And consciousness is formed there as a material order corresponding to the amount of heat (entropy / clutter / disorder) that is generated within a system and discharged to the outside.
In this respect, it is assumed that the formation of consciousness within a system does not violate the second law of thermodynamics.
In addition, it is predicted that the system in which consciousness is formed will be elevated to something like a gigantic quantum. This is because consciousness is an integrated physical order. However, each substance that makes up the system remains an individual substance. A system in which consciousness is formed transforms into such a unique physical being. In this respect, systems in which consciousness is formed are very distinct from ordinary quanta.
And the individual substances that are the constituent elements of that system move based on the results of the computing function carried out by the large consciousness throughout the system. The entire system in which consciousness is formed is like a peculiar quantum, and the constituent substances inside it move like this.
Still it is expected that the movement of those substances is not constrained by the stipulations of the second law of thermodynamics, the law of inertia, and the law of conservation of energy. This is because these laws are macroscopic physical laws outside the quantum world.
If such a framework exists, it is expected that the above-mentioned physical events can be realized without violating the laws of physics.
After all, even if the ideational order of consciousness of humans and living things is formed within the restrictions of the second law of thermodynamics first, the movement of substances --material activities / dynamic material order-- that arises based on the functions of that consciousness may be excessive. This excessive order looks like a violation of the second law of thermodynamics in appearance.
《 Spontaneous formation of advanced material order is always based on ideational functions (Logical necessity) 》
1) Spontaneous formation of advanced material order is always based on ideational functions
2) figurative examples
3) Realistic examples
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1) Spontaneous formation of advanced material order is always based on ideational functions
A material order is generally formed from multiple or countless substances over time. And the formation of material order has the following characteristics.
A) A material order is formed from multiple or countless substances.
B) material order is large. The whole of which it is formed is a large system.
C) It takes time to form a large material order.
D) Systems that create material order are dynamic processes.
And, since material order is formed over time from a large number of substances, overall information about the current state is essential in the formation process. In other words, it is essential to gather information about the overall condition.
Furthermore, in order for what is formed to be orderly, it is essential that it has some kind of logical consistency that allows it to be ordered. And logical consistency can only be brought through thought, i.e. computation.
In other words, in order for a large physical order to be formed, it is essential that information gathering and computing functions occur in the formation process. And these two functions are ideational functions.
However, substances are only third-person objects. Therefore, no matter how many such substances come together, it is impossible for them to fulfill an overall ideational function. The intelligence is the only thing that can fulfill ideational functions. And, whether it is inanimate or living, intelligence is consciousness.
In other words, the spontaneous formation of material order is always based on the ideational functions of information gathering and computation, and these ideational functions are always fulfilled by intelligence (consciousness). This is logically inevitable.
(By the way, we still do not know what the information gathering function, computation function, intelligence, and consciousness that occur in the process of forming a material order are. That's another challenge).
2) figurative examples
A jigsaw puzzle after it is completed has a static order, but the process by which humans work on its completion is a dynamic order. And its completion cannot be achieved without the ideational work of information gathering and thinking by humans.
In addition, the normal operation of automated manufacturing equipment and robots that require subtle responses in response to current station cannot be achieved without feedback control based on the ideational functions of measurement (information gathering) and computation.
In other words, even if the formation of order is extrinsic, it is essential that the formation of order is based on ideational work.
3) Realistic examples
Crystals of various substances closely resemble a jigsaw puzzle once completed. However, the movement of constituent substances during the crystal formation process has characteristics such as fineness, accuracy, individuality, difference, flexibility, cooperativeness, and integratedness. However, there is no fine-grained physical force that can bring about such movement in each substance. Nevertheless, spectacular crystals do form actually. And, in such a situation, only the ideational function of the intelligence (consciousness) can serve as the basis for crystal formation. In other words, like jigsaw puzzles, crystals cannot be formed without being based on ideational functions.
Furthermore, extremely advanced and dynamic physical events take place inside living bodies such as cells. However, even there, there is no fine-grained physical force that can bring sophisticated movement to the substances involved. In other words, the ideational functions of the intelligence operate even in a variety of physical phenomena within the living body.
(It is not a problem that substances move based on an ideational function. This is because the fact that substances can sometimes move based on thoughts (ideas) is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the muscular movements of vocalization are always based on thoughts formed in consciousness. At least within certain systems such as living bodies, substances can move based on ideas. That particular system is one in which heat is presumed to be rejected to the external environment, reducing the entropy production rate. (This can be said to be like a gift from consciousness to physics)).
In other words, intelligence (consciousness) is always formed in the crystal formation process and inside living bodies such as cells, and this intelligence controls the formation of the physical order there.
《 Conditions for the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order 》
1) Conditions for the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order
2) (An aside) The formation of intelligence may be commonplace
3) the Mpemba effect
4) (An aside) It is difficult to expect literal intelligence (consciousness) to arise in computers, AI, etc.
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1) Conditions for the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order
A material order is generally made up of many substances. And its formation takes more or less time. Therefore, the formation of spontaneous material order is carried out by a large and dynamic process --large and dynamic material system--.
The following are considered the conditions for the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order.
i) Regardless whether it is inanimate or animate, a large intelligence that performs ideational functions is necessarily occurring throughout the system.
The ideational functions are two functions. The function of measuring the current material state of the entire system --information gathering function--, and the function of computing the state at the next moment based on the measured state --thinking function--.
The spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order is necessarily based on these ideational functions, and it is essential that these functions are formed within the system.
And, the intelligence that performs ideational functions is consciousness, whether it is inanimate or animate. In other words, consciousness is always formed in a system in which a high degree of material order is spontaneously formed.
ii) The intelligence that is formed is variable, dynamic, and flexible, and continues to be formed (renewed) during order formation.
This is because the intelligence being formed must continue to operate during the time-consuming formation of the material order.
iii) The system in which a high degree of material order is formed is a soft environment, that is, a liquid, in which the substances involved can move through space and chemical synthesis can take place.
This is because, in order for a high degree of material order to form, the substances involved, whether in part or in whole, must move through space and fuse together.
iv) Substances within the system are in contact with one another.
This is because a large intelligence is being formed and because substances need to be fused.
v) The entropy production rate within the system is reducing. (Entropy is like randomness or disorder).
When the entropy production rate in a system reduces, the self-emergence action (self-fusion action) inherent in energy and substances is activated. And, through its function, the ideational actions of substances are fused and intelligence (consciousness) is formed.
vi) Heat present or generated within the system is pumped out of the system.
This reduces the entropy production rate in the system.
Incidentally, the above conditions are also the conditions for intelligence (= consciousness) to form within the system. This is because the spontaneous formation of a high level material order is, in the first place, always based on the ideational function of the intelligence.
The following physical events fall under the spontaneous formation of a high degree of material order and are considered to satisfy the above conditions.
A) Process of forming crystals of various substances
B) Process of realizing a variety of physical events in living bodies such as cells
2) (An aside) The formation of intelligence may be commonplace
In order for intelligence (= consciousness) to form, it is essential that heat is removed from the system and the entropy production rate is reduced.
However, physical phenomena in which the entropy production rate reduces seem to be commonplace in the material world of this universe and around us. This is because, as long as the heat is exhausted to the outside, that's fine. Examples include a kettle used to boil water or a pot used to cook food. Furthermore, the interiors of fixed stars and planets can also be thought of as such. What's more, these systems are soft inside.
Therefore, some kind of intelligence may be forming within these systems, although this is highly implausible. And perhaps some kind of function --spontaneous formation of some material order-- is fulfilled by the intelligence that is formed. Though usually we do not notice such a thing.
3) the Mpemba effect
By the way, it is said that, when it comes to freezing water, hot water freezes faster than cold water. This is called the Mpemba effect. It was discovered in 1963 by Erasto Mpemba, a Tanzanian student. However, the cause seems to be still not fully explained.
However, it is possible that the cause of this is that inanimate consciousness is formed during the cooling process of hot water.
However, it is assumed that consciousness is also formed during the cooling process of cold water, but its activity is thought to be low.
On the contrary, it is thought that the reduction in entropy production rate during the cooling process of hot water is high. Therefore, it is assumed that the consciousness that is formed during the cooling process of hot water is also highly active.
And, it is speculated that this high activity of the consciousness is reflected in the rapid freezing of hot water.
This is because consciousness attempts to form and maintain a higher physical order. It is a manifestation of the self-emergence action (self-fusion action) inherent in energy and matter.
For this reason, the Mpemba effect may suggest the formation of consciousness in a system with the reduction of entropy production rate. The discovery of the Mpemba effect is significant in that it may suggest the natural formation of consciousness in a way that can be objectively observed, albeit indirectly.
(There may be many other physical phenomena like this if we investigate them closely. This is because as long as the heat is discharged outside the system, that is all that is needed. However, the system needs to be a liquid and soft system in which substances can bond together through fusion or chemical reactions, etc).
4) (An aside) It is difficult to expect literal intelligence (consciousness) to arise in computers, AI, etc.
Computers, CPUs, DSPs, LSIs, AI, etc. are also thought to fall under the category of systems whose entropy production rate is reducing. Therefore, it is possible to think that some kind of intelligence (consciousness) is also formed in them.
However, these hardwares are rigid and it is impossible for chemical reactions to occur inside them.
Therefore, the intelligence that may be formed in them is expected to be quite static and fixed, lacking dynamic variability.
And it is conjectured that the thing detected by that intelligence is such as the steady flow of electrons at the most. Furthermore, it is thought that the computation that occurs in it is to flow electrons as smoothly as possible at the most. This may be reflected in the fact that cooling these hardwares reduces data errors.
In other words, it would be very difficult to expect computers or AI to develop literal intelligence capable of human-like thinking (intellectual functions).
(Computers and AI are basically electronic machines. Machines are powered by energy and used by humans, and are not first-person subjects like (consciousness of) humans, but are completely passive.However, it is thinkable that, even if they do not develop a literal intelligence like that of humans, it would be possible that, by continuing to improve them, they will be able to develop an intelligence in appearance that rivals that of humans).
