> With respect to the 2nd law of thermodynamics-- one of the ways to state it is that
> the tedency of states is toward increasing disorder. As a consequence work is required
> to maintain or create order.

I agree. This is an excellent way of actually describing it...

> As a sort of analogy think of a group of people going somewhere- if nothing is done,
> they will all head in that direction in no particular order. If, however you want
> them all to march there in ordered ranks at a particular pace, you need a drill
> instructor to do the work of getting them organized to do that.

That is a good analogy also since it directly suggests that a common reference is critical to execute order. Like for communication systems to work orderly, they all need to have the same clock reference. That is for both one on one (point-to-point), one to many (point-to-multipoint) and many to many networks like the Internet...

> A second example. If you play the game of passing a message by having a number of
> people whisper the messageto each other sequentially, you will find that a number
> of errors creep in, i.e. the tendency is toward disorder (increasing entropy).

Indeed, like I was just stating above, if the communication protocols get out of sync with each other, then errors are immediately introduced into the link and the network and then one needs to have re-transmissions.

> If it is very important that a message be transmitted accurately (such as orders in
> war), the massage must be sent several times and/or by different means. Even if errors
> occur, they won't be the same ones and you can cancel them out. However, doing this
> involves additional effort (i.e. work).

Indeed, indeed. TCP/IP, for example, which is the main transport and network protocol for the Internet networks is a very clear example of what you just said. For example, TCP relies on retransmissions if a packet of data is not acknowledged to have been received properly. So, with high error rates, a LOT of extra work is needed to still ensure reliable and orderly transmission.

IMHO, if man can do all of this work and achieve order, I am sure that Nature can also do it or is already doing it! After all, like in wireless communications, we are just using basic waves at different frequencies to carry the information and data...

-wirelessguru1