EVOLUTION AND HUMAN DESTINY 



production of the more complex multicellular forms 

 of life? 



In order to attempt to find an answer to these ques- 

 tions one must first consider the effects of the sur- 

 roundings upon life. As expressed by the famous Sec- 

 ond Law of Thermodynamics, matter and energy in 

 the universe generally tend toward greater random- 

 ness; that is, toward a state of greater probability. This 

 means the entropy of the universe (at least in our re- 

 gion of space) is constantly increasing. Yet we have 

 seen how, under various local conditions, some collec- 

 tions of matter may move in a direction of decreasing 

 entropy and develop into ever more complex forms. 

 This development however takes place in an environ- 

 ment which follows the Second Law. Consequently 

 only those low entropy (high extropy) collections of 

 matter which have the property of resisting the "rav- 

 ages" of the Second Law have any chance of long 

 survival. High extropy matter which therefore gradu- 

 ally acquires the properties which permit us to call it 

 living material, presents a considerable differential be- 

 tween its own high degree of complexity and the rela- 

 tively lower level of the ambient. The problem of the 

 maintenance of the high extropy of such living matter 

 consequently becomes a difficult one. 



In the virus stage the most fundamental property of 

 living matter, namely, in its ability to continue re- 

 synthesizing its own structure, solves the problem. 



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