Hi all,
>
> SPACE-TIME
> 8.1 The MOQ describes an evolutionary process which appears to take place
> within fixed parameters of space and time, yet we know from physics that
> space-time is not fixed in this way.
Drawing on the "Time's Arrow" theme first proposed by physicist Paul Davies,
Ilya Prigogine (chaos theorist and Nobel laureate) has suggested that
it is thermodynamics which DEFINES the flow of time.
In all of "modern" physics (relativity, quantum theory etc., the direction of
the times axis is reversible. Thermodynamics is the exception; when you stir
the sugar into your coffee, the diffusion is irreversible.
The second law of thermodynamics states that systems tend to a state of higher
disorder. Obviously, this tendency is a tendency over time. Prigogine's idea
is that it is the increase in disorder itself that marks the passage of time.
If you think about it, any time measuring device or process works on this
principal.
It isn't that "the evolutionary process
Thus, the way months topic is phrased can be inverted
> 8.1 The MOQ describes an evolutionary process which appears to take place
> within fixed parameters of space and time, . . .
Prigogine's change is a Copernican revolution that puts the evolutionary
process at the centre, with time and space orbiting in subservience.
As I've said before, (e.g.
http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/0001/0133.html )
the second law of thermodynamics is part of the MoQ. Pirsig states that
morality is the natural order of the world, so we might assume that it follows
the law . . .
Here it is expressed in Pirsig's own words (Lila Ch. 13):
In general, given a choice of two courses
to follow and all other things being equal,
that choice which is more Dynamic, that is,
at a higher level of evolution, is more moral.
I bet Pirsig wasn't even thinking in thermodynamic terms when he wrote that.
Jonathan
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:03:31 BST