Entropy! (A change within...)

One of the concepts which has always fascinated me,irrespective of the great technical details involved,is that of entropy.

We were first introduced to it in our thermodynamic classes. And in otherwise very dry,mechanical environment, wherein wondering about their sudden positive to negative mood swings, I have started hating all the 'P, V, H, I' etc, this 'S' thing brought my wandering mind back from the surrounding into the system!
                                                    Our prof. was explaining about a well arranged pack of cards. Once you start shuffling it, no matter how many times you go on shuffling it, the cards would never get arranged in their initial order.Such a stupidly simple thing if observed superficially. But turned out to be of great significance. Perhaps a very very fundamental rule obeyed by the whole universe.A tendency towards increasing disorder, measured as entropy.

Universe from its start is tending towards more and more randomness.

That is what is the 'nature' of the universe. And that was what we studied in physics.

Nature supports only those processes which involve a negative free energy change. Formulated by Gibb's equation, for a process to be spontaneous, either the enthalpy change should be negative or the entropy change should be positive. i.e, increasing randomness favors a process.

On the contrary, with organization, entropy decreases, as in case of man made machines, accumulated entropy has to be dissipated as heat for the machine to perform further work.

In chemistry, again the similar thing.

If there is an overall shift towards increased randomness, more likely the reaction is spontaneous.

If a large molecule breaks down to many smaller ones,more chances of the reaction being spontaneous.

If, a shift towards randomness is the rule of the nature, what is there to prove it?

One exception...

'LIFE!'

Where the whole discussion of entropy takes its most interesting form.

Though this might not be technically too accurate,somehow,the whole essence of life lies in breaking this very fundamental rule.

Every 'living' form has the basic tendency of getting organized.

Every cell is bounded by a membrane. Thus separating itself from the surrounding. Not just separating, but maintaining a totally different environment inside, than the surrounding.

It is the primary condition. Being in equilibrium with the surrounding simply means the end of life. And for perpetuation of life there is an ever reduction of entropy within that life form.

It maintains its different concentration- decrease in entropy.

It requires to build complex molecules from simpler ones- decrease in entropy.  
 More organized its structure gets- more decrease in entropy.

And then, more knowledge it acquires, more decrease in entropy.

A very nice technical term- 'Information Entropy.' One can find bytes and bytes and bytes on Internet explaining something which actually lies at the heart of every byte of information. For arranging totally random things into an order, meant to convey some meaning,i.e,information, there is reduction in entropy. As in case of letters arranged to form meaningful words, then sentences, and then a whole story!

And for this reduction in entropy, there is investment of energy. So we need more and more energy to create and store more and more information.

Now we are continuously  getting more and more organized. And accordingly, there is reduction in entropy.

More developed a living form is, more are its powers of perception, their interpretation, and then application. We, being human, are constantly perceiving our surroundings. Our magic brains interpret these perceptions to generate information. To decrease the entropy.

The thoughts flickering in our minds at tremendous speed, are actually meaningful cascades formed in the brain in fraction of second.

More and more we understand the universe, more and more we are disobeying its basic rule. How contradictory in itself!

But if one tries to look at it this way-

From where did life come into existence? From nature!

From where does it obtain its energy for survival?

From nature!

If we say we are gaining information, about what it actually is?

Again nature!

Nature has somehow violated its own rule, created us, and is providing energy for our perpetuation, simply in a quest to understand its own meaning.

Being in homogeneity with nature could not have served the purpose.

We have partly separated ourselves, perhaps for a better understanding!