The 2nd law, and the trend to disorder, is universal (Talk.Origins)

Claim CF001.2:


 * The entire universe is a closed system, so the second law of thermodynamics dictates that within it, things are tending to break down. The second law applies universally.

Source:
 * Wallace, Timothy, 2002. Five major evolutionist misconceptions about evolution. http://www.trueorigins.org/isakrbtl.asp

CreationWiki response:

Here again, we have a scientific concept, being expressed so as to be understood by non scientists.

Once again Talk Origins is using the straw man argument that the claim totally forbids a decrease in entropy. The claim only speaks of the most natural trend. No creationist claims that the 2nd law makes order from disorder impossible, it is only claimed that order to disorder in the most natural trend.

No problem with this, but it is also irrelevant to the claim. All that this shows is that the expansion of the universe prevents a maximum level of entropy from being reached.

When entropy is examined statistically it can be considered a measure of randomness. Now the more random a system is the more disordered it is. The formula for statistical entropy is:



S is entropy.

k is the Boltzmann Constant =

is the number of equivalent equally probable configurations. This is a direct measurement of disorder.

Random or disordered systems have such a significantly higher number of equivalent equally probable configurations, that they can basically be considered inevitable. Now it is true that entropy is not the same as disorder, but entropy is logarithmically related to disorder. Entropy can be considered a measurement of disorder in the way that the Richter Scale is a measurement of earthquakes or decibels are a measurement of sound. The result is that it is accurate to call entropy a measure of disorder.

This is totally false! A sufficient increase in the disorder of a system will cause it to break down. Bromberg uses analysis of the entropy of an unshuffled and shuffled deck of cards as an example of the statistical analysis of entropy. This works on organisms, cars, and buildings, as well as a deck of cards. Saying that things tend to break down is just another way of saying that they tend to go from order to disorder.