Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>]

Dear James,

According to the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy (disorder) 
will always increase. But this is a general law, and there is one big 
problem in applying this law to the origin of life, namely, that it 
is only valid definitively or conclusively inside a closed system; in 
a part of an open system the entropy can decrease, provided that it 
increases somewhere else. So, I think that the only way to make an in 
depth study of the origin of life is the cumbersome way that I 
followed.

But we cannot continue along this road-we must concentrate on Hebrew 
matters. I mentioned the scientific details in order to show 
scientific methods by which we illuminate one important question 
mentioned in the Tanakh-the origin of life. And I also wrote my post 
in order to show how much faith and conjecture are found inside 
scientific disciplines-but students and others often are not aware of 
it.

Best regards,

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo



> Hi,
>
> > In order to explore the two possibilities I calculated and studied
> >
> > -the total mass of bio-atoms (atoms used in living matter) on the earth.
> > -the possible sources of energy on the early earth.
> > -the energy wavelengths  that could be accepted by each bio-atom and
> > those which would be
> >      rejected.
> > -the equilibrium constants in water of each bio-atom, in order to
> > know when each atom would
> >      precipitate.
> > -the chemical and physical laws that would be at work in the
> > synthesis of atoms into molecules and in
> >      the destruction of the same.
> > -possible mechanisms that could shield synthesized molecules from
> > destructive energy.
> > -the different forces that would be at work in the synthesis of
> > nucleo-acids versus proteins.
> > -how much information that could generate by chance.
> > -how much information was necessary for the smallest possible living entity.
> >
> > There were also many questions connected with the points above that I
> > studied. And my conclusion after reading about one thousand
> > scientific articles and 300 books and doing my own calculations, was
> > that origin of life by chance (evolution) was impossible to the
> > highest degree, if the laws of nature as we know them were at work on
> > the early earth. When one theory (chance origin) is falsified, the
> > other had to be the correct one, even though it could not be directly
> > verified by scientific means. On the basis of my study I could not
> > identify the originator of life on earth as YHWH, the God of the
> > Tanakh, but only as one or more living entities.
>
> You could have saved yourself a lot of time and a lot of reasoning 
> by just applying the second law of chemical thermodynamics to the 
> problem and calculated the implied change in Gibb's free energy.
>
> dG = dH + dS
>
> The change in Gibb's free energy can be approximated by the change 
> in energy of the system plus the change in entropy (measure of 
> disorder of the chemical system).
>
> To go from atoms/simple molecules to the kind of macromolecules in a 
> single cell implies a massively exothermic reaction. i.e. dH 
> (enthalpy is massively +ve)
>
> To go from a highly disordered system (atoms/simple molecules) to a 
> highly ordered system (living cell) implies a massively +ve change 
> in entropy.
>
> A reaction can only be feasible if the implied change in Gibb's free 
> energy is -ve. Subsitituting into our equations we get.
>
> dG = dH + dS
>    = +ve + +ve
>    = +ve
>    = infeasible reaction
>
> The implied reaction of atoms and simple molecules colliding 
> together and creating a fully functional living cell is 
> thermodynamically impossible.
>
> > supernatural faith versus scientific faith. Regarding long life-spans
> > under discussion, I do not see that they can be excluded on the basis
> > of biology and our knowledge of the human body, because the process
> > of aging is not understood.
>
> Actually, we already understand quite a bit. We know that as cells 
> reproduce the ends of the DNA shorten. Conclusions have been drawn 
> that this in some way makes the copying process imperfect and 
> results in symptoms of ageing.
>
> James Christian
>
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Rolf Furuli
> > University of Oslo
> >
> > > Dear James,
> > >
> > > While I personally think that Jim's theory is dead wrong, there is a huge
> > > difference between the long life-spans of biblical characters (and those in
> > > other works of literature as well) and the examples that you listed bellow.
> > > Humans living hundreds of years is not only not a part of our present-day
> > > experience. It is also totally impossible within our understanding of the
> > > laws of nature as they stand at present. Theorizing that "nature was
> > > different in the distant past" or the "God intervened in the cases of
> > > certain chosen people" is a statement of faith, by its nature unprovable by
> > > any scientific method known to us. As long as you admit that your position
> > > depends on an acceptance of the biblical text as factually accurate out of
> > > faith, that's fine. Comparing anyone who does not accept your faith with
> > > children is derogatory, and has no place on this list.
> > >
> > > Yigal Levin
> > >
> > > Co-moderator, B-Hebrew
> >
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>
>
>
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