Random Action and Complexity
Early random collisions formed the first nuclei, and later all the elements. Afterward random collisions formed the simplest organic molecules, like formaldehyde, in the dust clouds left from exploding stars. However, random collisions by themselves could never in the age of the universe form the simplest system of complex molecules necessary for life. Why not? There is a soft barrier between the regimes of what random collisions can and can’t do. The location of the barrier is related to the alphabet length for coded messages.
We may think of all the natural nuclei as words spelled from a two-letter alphabet. Let the letters be p for proton and n for neutron. In this language the order of the letters is arbitrary. Let’s say that all the p’s come first and then the n’s. We can make words by prefixing p or suffixing n to a valid shorter word. The nuclei the words represent may be stable or they may have a half-life ranging from a small fraction of a second to hundreds of millions of years. Of the two one-letter words, p is stable and n has a half-life of 13 minutes. Deuterium is pn, a stable isotope of hydrogen. Suffixing an n gives pnn, tritium, an unstable isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.26 years. The number of p’s determines the name of the element. Forms of helium are ppn, ppnn, ppnnn, and ppnnnn. The first two are stable. The last has a half-life of 0.82 seconds. The one with a total of five nuclear particles has a half-life of 0.002 micro-micro-microseconds.
We can now see why random collisions can form the 92 elements. The alphabet is extremely simple. It has just two letters. Furthermore, the chart of stability for all valid combinations of protons and neutrons is one nearly continuous, simply connected curve from the simplest nucleus, hydrogen, to the most complex, uranium.
A chart of chemical compounds containing just two atoms would have 92 rows and 92 columns. The permitted combinations are sparsely scattered over the chart, more widely dispersed than the 26-row, 26-column chart of letter combinations that form accepted two-letter words in a given language. This added complexity prevents forming most chemical compounds from simpler ones by adding an atom at a time, just as prefixing or suffixing a letter at a time to existing words can never form more than a few long words. Chemists tell us that the processes that form chemical compounds are much more complicated than just adding one atom at a time to an existing compound. Few elements are available in monatomic form, and most of those that are usually monatomic don’t form any compounds.
Seen this way, making complex molecules is not just a matter of adjusting the probabilities for random action. Random action cannot make a molecule like chlorophyll or hemoglobin, no matter how conditions adjust the probabilities. The synthesis of such molecules is an elaborate, intelligently contrived procedure.
Life depends on a very complex organization of atoms. When seeking life elsewhere in the universe, we must be prepared to encounter complexity. We should not be surprised to find surprises. Let’s therefore not rely on random searches for a fortuitous coincidence of factors, basing our hope merely on large numbers.
We may think of all the natural nuclei as words spelled from a two-letter alphabet. Let the letters be p for proton and n for neutron. In this language the order of the letters is arbitrary. Let’s say that all the p’s come first and then the n’s. We can make words by prefixing p or suffixing n to a valid shorter word. The nuclei the words represent may be stable or they may have a half-life ranging from a small fraction of a second to hundreds of millions of years. Of the two one-letter words, p is stable and n has a half-life of 13 minutes. Deuterium is pn, a stable isotope of hydrogen. Suffixing an n gives pnn, tritium, an unstable isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.26 years. The number of p’s determines the name of the element. Forms of helium are ppn, ppnn, ppnnn, and ppnnnn. The first two are stable. The last has a half-life of 0.82 seconds. The one with a total of five nuclear particles has a half-life of 0.002 micro-micro-microseconds.
We can now see why random collisions can form the 92 elements. The alphabet is extremely simple. It has just two letters. Furthermore, the chart of stability for all valid combinations of protons and neutrons is one nearly continuous, simply connected curve from the simplest nucleus, hydrogen, to the most complex, uranium.
A chart of chemical compounds containing just two atoms would have 92 rows and 92 columns. The permitted combinations are sparsely scattered over the chart, more widely dispersed than the 26-row, 26-column chart of letter combinations that form accepted two-letter words in a given language. This added complexity prevents forming most chemical compounds from simpler ones by adding an atom at a time, just as prefixing or suffixing a letter at a time to existing words can never form more than a few long words. Chemists tell us that the processes that form chemical compounds are much more complicated than just adding one atom at a time to an existing compound. Few elements are available in monatomic form, and most of those that are usually monatomic don’t form any compounds.
Seen this way, making complex molecules is not just a matter of adjusting the probabilities for random action. Random action cannot make a molecule like chlorophyll or hemoglobin, no matter how conditions adjust the probabilities. The synthesis of such molecules is an elaborate, intelligently contrived procedure.
Life depends on a very complex organization of atoms. When seeking life elsewhere in the universe, we must be prepared to encounter complexity. We should not be surprised to find surprises. Let’s therefore not rely on random searches for a fortuitous coincidence of factors, basing our hope merely on large numbers.
