Ian Ramsey Centre
for science and religion in the University of Oxford

On the 4th Law of Thermodynamics
Christopher Beling
University of Hong Kong

As normally understood the 4 th law of thermodynamics is a postulated law that deals with the origin of functionally complex systems, as typified by living organisms that occur as a result of energy flow. The law has been enigmatic with many doubting its existence. The law is problematic since the ordering of matter into functionally complex systems appears, at face value, to oppose the prediction of the 2 nd law of thermodynamics; namely that for an isolated system the entropy (disorder) must increase over time. Even though the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium open systems removes any fundamental breaking of the 2 nd law there continues to be much debate as to how energy flow can produce the order found in functionally complex systems causing some to believe that a deeper 4 th law of thermodynamics must be involved. In the last decade interest in this problem has intensified with a growing number of attempts at stating the law. The majority of 4 th law statements suggest “bottom up” emergentist explanations for functional complexity based on the principles of Darwinian natural selection or self organized criticality. Here, however, it is argued that these approaches have serious scientific failings. A recently proposed alternative formulation of the 4 th law as derived by mathematician William Dembski is discussed. This alternative version has all the hallmarks of being correct. In its stochastic form it may be stated: “ the complex specified information (CSI) contained in a system can only decrease or at best remain constant ”. This formulation departs significantly from emergentist statements in that it suggests that rather than energy flow increasing a system's functional complexity it actually does the reverse. The present paper focuses on the validity of this alternative formulation by emphasizing the distinction between systems that only possess “order” and those that possess “digitally processed order” and by providing supporting evidence from genetics and paleontology. The theological ramifications of this new law are briefly discussed.