Posted by
Stephen Guerin-3 on
Aug 05, 2010; 4:09am
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/entropy-and-uncertainty-REDUX-tp5375070p5375239.html
Yep, that's what Nick meant I assure you. He's slapping his forehead
thrice for making that reversal.
-S
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On Aug 5, 2010, at 12:04 AM, Russ Abbott wrote:
> Nick, Good to hear from you. Nice description of entropy in animal
> behavior!
>
> I agree with pretty much everything you say. I'm concerned about
> this sentence, though.
>>
>> When entropy is low … i.e., when there is a particularly steep
>> gradient in some part of the universe, Nature contrives a means for
>> reducing that entropy and that means, paradoxically is to INCREASE
>> entropy in some localized portion of the universe in order to more
>> efficiently decrease it over all.
>
> By a particularly steep gradient, I assume you mean any sharp change
> of some property. The gradient is in some property--not any
> particular property, and especially not necessarily in entropy.
>
> I'm guessing you meant to say that Nature contrives a means for
> increasing that entropy. (You did say it started out low. I agree
> with that. Smoothing out the gradient would increase the entropy.)
>
> That would increase entropy locally and globally.
>
> -- Russ
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 7:04 PM, Nicholas Thompson <
[hidden email]
> > wrote:
> energy
>
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