3 ms·
It is not that hard to understand that a broken glass won't mend itself spontaneously
by d0mine 3y ago
It is not that hard to understand that a broken glass won't mend itself spontaneously
- ajross 3y agoNo, but understanding that fact is at most a naive and useless understanding the second law of thermodynamics. It's the numbers in there that make it a scientific "law". And a numeric understanding of entropy is totally bananas.
- lcuff 3y agoFor some definition of useless, I suppose. Without trying to be contrary, most of what I (we) know is 'useless' in terms of whether my knowing it has a "useful" impact on my life. Knowing that there's an equation governing gravitational attraction doesn't really impact my life experientially. It's true that if you're trying to design any system that involves a Carnot cycle, it becomes useful, but given no such job description, it's not 'useful' information. Much of science _is_ useful in our STEM-oriented world, to those using it. I think some of the reality is that regardless of most other factors in our lives, love and relationships are a Big Deal, so stories in that realm have in some small way more usefulness. Thus, I know the plot of Romeo and Juliet better than I can give a summary of the Second Law.
- hexane360 3y agoYes, but a broken glass has much less entropy than an intact glass at a slightly higher temperature.
- Chinjut 3y agoIf you asked people "Will a broken glass mend itself spontaneously?", they will all get it correct. That's not the sort of question people fail to be able to answer. The sort of thing question people fail to be able to answer is "What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics?".