Is There a Second Arrow of Time? A New Law of Evolution, Information, and Complexity

Here's a meteorite that basically represents a rock from four point five six seven billion years ago. It formed in the early solar system before there were planets. And Earth and other planets formed as a result of these. Now this rock contains about thirty or forty different minerals. That's all. Earth today has over six thousand two hundred different minerals. The origin of life wasn't the origin of evolution, it was just the transition between abiotic evolution, chemical evolution, and biological evolution. If you want to believe That's fine, but science isn't gonna get you there. I'm sorry, what we're talking about is mechanisms. Gravity is a mechanism. Without gravity you wouldn't have planets, and without planets, you wouldn't have life. But the purpose of gravity is not life. The purpose gravity is just simply a descriptor. The laws of thermodynamics are just simply descriptors. They're describing how the universe works. Works. It's a mechanism. And what we're describing is how the universes work as a mechanism. When I'm in a poetic mood, I like to think of them as the yin and yang of time. The second law of thermodynamics describes the destination where we're all heading toward, but the law of increasing functional information describes the journey. Hey everybody, it's Michael Shermer. It's time for another episode of the Michael Stremmer Show. My guests today, two guests today, Dr. Robert Hazen. He's a geoscientist at the Carnegie Institute for Science and the author of The Sciences and Integrated Approach. The story of Earth, the first four point five billion years that covers most of it.

Symphony and C, Carbon and the Evolution of Almost Everything. And his new book, here it is, Time's Second Arrow. Evolution, order, and a new law of nature. He also produced two great courses, both of which I've listened to. Wow. The origin and evolution of Earth from the Big Bang to the future of human existence. If I recall, Robert, that was like forty eight lectures or something like that. Something So you're in my head from years ago when I used to listen to those I'm sorry when I'm out riding my bike. The other one, Origins of Life, um, which I've which I found into I want to ask you about some of that too when we get to this. My other guest, also the co author of Time Second Arrow. Here it is, Dr. Michael L. Wong, he's a planetary scientist and astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institute for Science.

whose primary scientific interests are planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. He is co authoring a revised edition of the textbook Astrobio, a multidisciplinary approach. He also hosts a podcast that examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek. I think I saw an episode, Mikey, you had like a the you had like the the jersey the Star Trek uniform on or the the pajamas as we used to call'em. With the little touch thing of, you know, Scotty. That's right. Yeah Anyway, he's working with staff scientist Robert Hazen, my other guest here to assess the network topies of exoplanet atmospheres for potential biosignatures. I trust these are not the aliens uh that people think are coming to Earth. But try saying that fast three times. Not yet. All right. I'm really glad to have you guys on. I did again, I read the book in the hardcover. I read the book on audio. I watched several of your podcasts.

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