Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-09T10:06:47.881Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - A simple treatment of complexity: cosmological entropic boundary conditions on increasing complexity

from Part II - Cosmological and physical perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2013

By
Charles H. Lineweaver
Edited by
Charles H. Lineweaver ,
Paul C. W. Davies  and
Michael Ruse
Charles H. Lineweaver
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Paul C. W. Davies
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Michael Ruse
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Get access

Summary

THE COMPLEXITY OF COMPLEXITY

  1. Proud Biologist: “Life forms are more complex than stars”

  2. Humble Astronomer: “You'd look simple too from a trillion miles away”

One of the central questions of evolutionary biology and cosmology is: is there a general trend towards increasing complexity? In order to answer that question, it would help to have a definition of complexity that can be quantified. Various definitions of complexity have been proposed (Gell-Mann, 1994, 1995; Kauffman, 1995; Adami, 2002; Gell-Mann & Lloyd, 2003; Fullsack, 2011). With useful oversight, Lloyd (2001) groups various conceptions of complexity into three groups based on (1) difficulty of description (measured in bits) (2) difficulty of creation (measured in time, energy or price) and (3) degree of organization (measured in…?…, we're not sure). For more details see: Weaver, 1948; Traub et al., 1983; Chaitin, 1987; Weber et al., 1988; Wicken, 1988; Bennett, 1988; Lloyd & Pagels, 1988; Zurek, 1989; Crutchfield & Young, 1989; McShea, 2000; Adami et al., 2000; Adami, 2002; Hazen et al., 2008; Li & Vitanyi, 2008; McShea & Brandon, 2010.

Type
Chapter
Information
Complexity and the Arrow of Time , pp. 42 - 67
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adami, C. (2002). What is complexity? BioEssays, 24, 12, 1085–1094.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adami, C., Ofria, C., & Collier, T. C. (2000). Evolution of biological complexity. PNAS, 97, 9, 4463–4468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barrow, J. D. (1994). The Origin of the Universe. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Barrow, J. D. (2011). Personal communication.
Bejan, A. (2006). Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics, 3rd edn. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bennett, C. H. (1987). Demons, engines and the second law. Scientific American, Nov., pp. 108–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, C. H. (1988). Information, dissipation, and the definition of organization. In Pines, D. (ed.), Emerging Syntheses in Science. Santa Fe: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Bennett, C. H. (1994). Complexity in the Universe. In Halliwell, J. J., Perez-Mercader, J. & Zurek, W. H. (eds.), Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carroll, S. (2010). From Eternity to Here: the Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time. New York: Dutton, Penguin.Google Scholar
Chaisson, E. J. (2001). Cosmic Evolution: the Rise of Complexity in Nature. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Chaitin, G. (1987). Algorithmic Information Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Crutchfield, J. P. & Young, K. (1989). Inferring statistical complexity. Phys. Rev. Lett., 63, 105–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, P. C. W. (1974). The Physics of Time Asymmetry. Berkeley: University California Press.
Davies, P. C. W. (1994). Stirring up trouble. In Zurek, W. H., Perez-Mercader, J., & Halliwell, J. J. (eds.), Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 119–130.Google Scholar
Deutsch, D. (1997). The Fabric of Reality. New York: Penguin, p. 179.Google Scholar
Dopita, M. A., Krauss, L. M., Sutherland, R. S. et al. (2011). Re-ionizing the Universe without stars. Astrophys. Space Sci., 335, 345–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyson, F. J. (1979). Time without end: physics and biology in an open Universe. Rev. Mod. Physics, 51, 447–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egan, C. & Lineweaver, C. H. (2010). A larger entropy of the Universe. Astrophysical Journal, 710, 1825–1834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, D. & Searles, D. J. (1994). Equilibrium microstates which generate second law violating steady states. Physical Review, E, 50, 2, 1645–1648.Google ScholarPubMed
Frautschi, S. (1988). Entropy in an expanding Universe. In Weber, B. H., Depew, D. J. & Smith, J. D. (eds.), Entropy, Information, and Evolution: New Perspectives on Physical and Biological Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 11–22.Google Scholar
Fullsack, M. (2011). Complexity and its observer: does complexity increase in the course of evolution? Paper presented at the 11th Congress of the Austrian Philosophical Society (OeGP), University of Vienna.
Gell-Mann, M. (1994). The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and Complex. New York: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Gell-Mann, M. (1995). What is complexity? Complexity, 1, no. 1.
Gell-Mann, M. & Lloyd, S. (2003). Effective complexity. In Gell-Mann, M. & Tsallis, C. (eds.), Nonextensive Entropy – Interdisciplinary Applications. USA: Oxford University Press, pp. 387–398.Google Scholar
Hazen, R. M., Papineau, D., Bleeker, W. et al. (2008). Mineral evolution. American Mineralogist, 93, 1693–1720.CrossRef
Hazen, R. M. & Eldredge, N. (2010). Themes and variations in Complex systems. Elements, 6, 43–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaynes, E. T. (1989). Clearing up mysteries – the original goal. In Skilling, J. (eds.), Maximum Entropy and Bayesian Methods. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishing, pp. 1–27.Google Scholar
Kauffman, S. (1995). At Home in the Universe: the Laws of Complexity. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Kleidon, A. (2010). Life, hierarchy and the thermodynamics machinery of planet Earth. Physics of Life Reviews, .CrossRef
Kleidon, A. (2012). How does the Earth system generate and maintain thermodynamic disequilibrium and what does it imply for the future of the planet? Phil. Trans. R. Soc A, 370, 1012–1040.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleidon, A. & Lorenz, R. D. (2005). Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth and Beyond. Heidelberg: Springer.CrossRef
Kolb, E. W. & Turner, M. S. (1990). The Early Universe. New York: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Krauss, L. & Starkman, G. (2000). Life, the Universe and nothing: life and death in an ever-expanding Universe. Astrophysical Journal, 531, 22–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layzer, D. (1975). The arrow of time. Scientific American, 233, 6, 56–69.CrossRef
Layzer, D. (1988). Growth of order in the Universe. In Weber, B. H., Depew, D. J. and Smith, J. D. (eds.), Entropy, Information, and Evolution: New Perspectives on Physical and Biological Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 23–39.Google Scholar
Li, M. & Vitanyi, P. M. B. (2008). An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications. 3rd ed., New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liddle, A. R. & Lyth, D. H. (2000). Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Lineweaver, C. H. (2001). An estimate of the age distribution of terrestrial planets in the Universe: quantifying metallicity as a selection effect. Icarus, 151, 307–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lineweaver, C.H. (2010). Spreading the power: commentary on life, hierarchy, and the thermodynamic machinery of planet Earth by A. Kleidon. Phys. Life Rev., .CrossRef
Lineweaver, C. H. & Egan, C. (2008). Life, gravity and the second law of thermodynamics. Physics of Life Reviews, 5, 225–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lineweaver, C. H. & Egan, C. (2011). The initial low gravitational entropy of the Universe as the origin of design in nature. In Gordon, R., Stillwaggon-Swan, L. & Seckbach, J. (eds.), Origins of Design in Nature. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 3–16.Google Scholar
Lloyd, S. (2001). Measures of complexity: a non-exhaustive list. IEEE Control Systems Magazine.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lloyd, S. & Pagels, H. (1988). Complexity as thermodynamic depth. Annals of Physics, 188, 186–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, J. C. (1888). Theory of Heat. London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
McShea, D. W. (2000). Functional complexity in organisms: parts as proxies. Biological Philosophy, 15, pp. 641–668.CrossRef
McShea, D. W. & Brandon, R. N. (2010). Biology's First Law: the Tendency for Diversity and Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penrose, R. (1979). Singularities and time-asymmetry. In Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. (eds), General Relativity: an Einstein Centenary Survey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 581–638.Google Scholar
Penrose, R. (2004). The big bang and its thermodynamic legacy. In Road to Reality: a Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe. London: Vintage Books, pp. 686–734. Plot used in Fig. 1, panel c, from A. Thomas (2009), .Google Scholar
Prigogine, I. (1978). Time, structure and fluctuations. Science, 201, 777–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, H. R. & Nir, Y. (2008). The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubi, J. M. (2008). Does nature break the second law of thermodynamics? (also published as “The long arm of the second law”). Scientific American, November.Google Scholar
Sakharov, A. D. (1967). Violation of CP symmetry, C-asymmetry and baryon asymmetry of the Universe. JETP Letters, 5, 24–27.Google Scholar
Schneider, E. D. & Sagan, D. (2006). Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Schrödinger, E. (1944). What is life?Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Smoot, G. F., Bennett, C. L., Kogut, A. et al. (1992). Structure in the COBE differential microwave radiometer first-year maps. Astrophysical Journal, 396, L1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiegelman, S. (1971). An approach to the experimental analysis of precellular evolution. Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics, 4(2&3), 213–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Susskind, L. (1995) The world as a hologram. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 36, 6377–6396, arXiv:hep-th/9409089.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szilard, L. (1929). Uber die Entropie verminderung in einem thermodynamischen System bei Eingriffen intelligenter wesen. Zeitschrift für Physik, 53, 840–856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traub, J. F., Wasilkowsu, G. W. & Wozniakowski, H. (1983). Information, Uncertainty, Complexity. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Ulanowicz, R. E. & Hannon, B. M. (1987). Life and the production of entropy. Proc. Royal Soc. London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 232, No. 1267, 181–192.CrossRef
Weaver, W. (1948). Science and complexity. American Scientist, 36, 536.Google ScholarPubMed
Weber, B. H., Depew, D. J., & Smith, J. D. (eds.) (1988). Entropy, Information, and Evolution: New Perspectives on Physical and Biological Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Wicken, J. S. (1988). Thermodynamics, evolution, and emergence: ingredients for a new synthesis. In Weber, B. H, Depew, D. J. & Smith, J. D. (eds.), Entropy, Information, and Evolution: New Perspectives on Physical and Biological Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 139–169.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1992). The Diversity of Life. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 9.
Zaikowski, L. & Friedrich, J. (eds.) (2008). Chemical Evolution across Space and Time: from the Big Bang to Prebiotic Chemistry. American Chemical Society Symposium Series. USA: Oxford University Press.CrossRef
Zimdahl, W. & Pavon, D. (2001). Cosmological two-fluid thermodynamics. General Relativity and Gravitation, 33, 5, 791–804, arXiv:astro-ph/0005352v1.CrossRef
Zurek, W. H. (1989). Thermodynamic cost of computation, algorithmic complexity and the information metric. Nature, 341, 119–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×