
This is a new JHT peer review stage article, in the re-formatting and or re-constructionstage of development, about which: comments, suggestions, and or criticism are welcome, which can be submitted via: (a) the threads below, (b) comments added into the "this" wiki page, via the EasyEdit button, (c) attachment added to this page, via EasyEdit tools, (d) review posted externally, e.g. in beta wiki, WordPress, Blogger, your own website, etc., or (e) email comments sent to JHT editor Libb Thims directly via libbthims@gmail.com, which will be made public.

This is a new JHT peer review stage article, in the re-formatting and or re-construction

stage of development, about which: comments

, suggestions, and or criticism are welcome, which can be submitted via: (a) the threads below, (b) comments added into the "this" wiki page, via the EasyEdit button, (c) attachment added to this page, via EasyEdit tools, (d) review posted externally, e.g. in beta wiki

, WordPress

, Blogger, your own website, etc., or (e) email comments sent to JHT editor Libb Thims directly via libbthims@gmail.com, which will be made public.

Entropy and entropy generation are fundamental quantities in the analysis of complex systems. Indeed, they have been proved to be the key in the understanding of many different phenomena and of practical applications in engineering and science. They represent the fundamentals of most modern formulations of both equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. In the last twenty years, entropy and entropy generation have been better understood in fundamental aspects and a great number of applications have been developed in classical engineering and new scientific area problems. In this paper, starting from these results, the entropy generation approach is presented as a powerful method of analysis of the brain function, in looked at in the light of the moralistic and philosophical arguments of Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas.

Author
Umberto Lucia
Email: umberto.lucia@polito.it
Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy;

Received: 12 Oct 2012; Reviewed: Dates; Published: Date

Review period
This article entered the review period on 7 May 2013 and will close prior to 27 Jun 2013, the date when JHT editor Libb Thims leaves for the University of Pitesti Econophysics and Sociophysics Workshop 2013, if not sooner as Thims will need to focus on completion of his key speaker talk. [1] Comments and review in between these two points will be appreciated.

Editorial issues

Formatting \| Other

Formatting | Other

Libb Thims | 7 May 2013 | 2:43 PM CST | Post

Editorial note: Umberto, I am nearing to having your article finished. For future reference, I would suggest you consult the JHT formatting page, in particular the "names of people" section, the "inline citation" section, and the "citation" section in general (wherein we are missing first names of author citations), as it took me some time to correct all of this or rather to make your paper into standard JHT format. Also, your references, presently are not completely in JHT format:

As, however, I did not actually write the "JHT formatting" page (24 Nov 2012) until after you submitted your article (12 Oct 2012), I'm not going to bother with this issue further at this point. Do be aware, however, that your extensive usage of upwards of 10 inline citations per sentence, such as the following:

have been editorially redacted into the following form:

wherein (a) references are grouped into one (e.g. 26-34 regrouped into ref. #10) and also we see life terminology upgrade clarification.

Libb Thims | 7 May 2013 | 3:31 PM CST | Post

Editorial note: Comment: the following section (formatted version):

These two results can explain some experimental facts, as, for example, the schizophrenia relation between the man behavior and the abnormal neurotransmission on brain neural network and the effects of a neurotransmitter on the chemical reaction cascade. [16]

16. Salerian, Alen J. (2012). “Thermodynamic Laws Apply to Brain Function”, Medical Hypothesis 74: 270-274.

might not be a good reference as Alen Salerian’s reputation seems to be in some form of legal and or credibility trouble and he is no longer able to practice as a physician/physiatrist:

http://www.salerianbrain.com/

I’ll only skimmed his article, however, thus far:

http://www.salerianbrain.com/wp-content/Thermodynamic-laws-apply-to-brain-function-2009.pdf

Possibly, down the road I'll be able to write an Hmolpedia article on him to better discern the correctness of his logic?

In its place, I might recommend Italian psychiatrist Tullio Scrimali and his 2006 book Entropy of Mind and Negative Entropy in which he seems to use a mixture of complexity theory, Prigoginean thermodynamics, dissipative structures, information theory (although he doesn't mention Shannon), chaos theory, systems theory, cybernetics, among others, to explain schizophrenia.

Answer: I accept the suggestion of the reference.

Libb Thims | 7 May 2013 | 4:07 PM CST | Post

Editorial queries: The following as found in the newly-formatted article:

Q1. What is the author’s definition of “entropy”?

A1. Entropy is defined as:

where Q is the heat exchanged, T is the temperature, rev means on an equivalent reversible path and Sg is the entropy generation which represents the entropy variation due to irreversibility.

Q2. What is the author’s definition of “entropy generation”?

A2. The entropy generation is defined by using the Gouy-Stodola theorem:

where Sg is the entropy generation which represents the entropy variation due to irreversibility, Wl is the work (exergy) lost due to dissipation and T0 is the environmental temperature.

Q3. What does the author mean by “theological approach”?

A3. Theological approach means a philosophical approach based on the research on God.

Q4. What is the author’s position on the theory of the soul in terms of thermodynamics?

A4. In thermodynamic approach I think that soul is the source of life: without soul the exergy exchange cannot be used for life. The soul is the entity (mind) which can convert the exergy in thoughts, actions, emotions, etc.

Q5. What is the author’s definition of ‘exergy’?

A5. Exergy is the energy can be used for useful processes.

Q6. Please provide an example of a specific neurotransmitter variation, e.g. serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, etc., that can be used determine entropy generation?

A6. Any exchange of neurotransmitter in any interaction between the brain and the environment.

Q7. What does the phrase: “From a theological point of view …” mean? From a God point of view? From a Christian point of view? From a soul theory point of view?

A7. From a philosophical point of view based on the research of the origin or motivation of life.

Q8. What exactly is “Thomas’ philosophy” for those of us who don’t know?

A8. What I mean for St. Thomas philosophy is the philosophical approach based on the thought that any action must follow its natural path, without any artificial human philosophical idea as conditioning of the development.

are in need of further clarification by the author (fixed

per A1-A8 via email from Lucia to Thims on 8 May 2013).

Peer review

Reviews \| Review board \| Other

Reviews | Review board | Other

Libb Thims | 7 May 2013 | Post

Comment: a general comment noticed is the rather bloated usage of references, on the last two of which, citations 39 (Walter Freeman, 2008) and 40 (Thomas Aquinas, 1272), in the original submission format, seem to have anything to do with the main argument of the article, as far as I can tell so far, which the proposal that entropy generation principles, applied to brain function, and ethical choice, might be able to rectify the theory of the soul (or soul weight theory) in quantitative thermodynamical terms (I would guess JHT review board member Gerard Nahum will have something to say about this, as this is his favorite topic?), if I'm not mistaken? To exemplify, Freeman, in his article, cites Aquinas' Summa Theologica, section: Treatise on Man (Q75-102), subsection: Q75: [2]

First Part, Q75
Of man, who is composed of a spiritual and a corporeal substance

A1: Whether the soul is a body? [It is not.] To seek the nature of the soul, we must lay down first that the soul is defined as the first principle of life in those things which in our judgment live; for we call living things "animate" and those things which have no life, "inanimate". Now life is shown principally by two actions, knowledge and movement. ...

Therefore the soul ... is not a body, but the act of a body; thus heat, which is the principle of making hot,
is not a body, but an act of a body. (p. 378)

This last statement brings to mind the following Rene Descartes based video, and how certain things are illusional until dissected:

In any event, Aquinas continues:

A2: Whether the human soul is something subsistent? [It is.] It must necessarily be allowed that the principle of intellectual operation which we call the soul is a principle both incorporeal and subsistent. For it is clear that by means of the intellect man can know the natures of all corporeal things. Now whatever knows certain things cannot have any of them in its own nature, because that which is in it naturally would impede the knowledge of anything else. (p. 379)

Certainly, you are not the first so-called "soul theorist", as Mary Roach calls such theorists; on an aside note Napoleon Bonaparte was a prime example (with his brain probing queries and vegetable growing experiments in attempts to discern a soul), since Rene Descartes and his pineal gland theory of the soul.

To note: normally religious topics are not acceptable to JHT, being that the following three topics are generally not acceptable to JHT:

● God theories
● Life theories (perpetual motion theories; this includes origin of life theories; see: defunct theory of life)
● Information theory (information theory; see: Shannon bandwagon)

Thermodynamic discussions on soul theory/karma theory are in some sense tentatively allowable subjects for JHT articles, e.g. Ernst Haeckel's circa 1895 very humorous adiabatic liquefaction low-temperature thermodynamics "soul snow" theory being one topic worthy of discussion, being that these, in basic principle, are "movement theories", which for over 75 percent of the belief systems of the world and belief systems of children derived from the Egyptian circa 2,500 BC (3950 BP) so-called negative confessions based morality theory of right (good) and wrong (evil) movement and action in reaction existence (life), and thermodynamics does indeed recognize (a) movement and (b) also differentiates between natural and or unnatural movement, and in fact the understanding of the motion of a body, particle, human, or planet, it makes no difference, is the focus of the opening paragraph of the science of thermodynamics:

“Every force tends to give motion to the body on which it acts; but it may be prevented from doing so by other opposing forces, so that equilibrium results, and the body remains at rest. In this case the force performs no work. But as soon as the body moves under the influence of the force, work is performed.”
— Rudolf Clausius (1875), “Mathematical Introduction” (The Mechanical Theory of Heat)

To clarify, we are not here attempting to argue here or promote the view that atomic, chemical, and or molecular entities, e.g. hydrogen, carbon dioxide molecule, DNA, protein molecule, bacteria molecule, cell-as-molecule, or human molecule, etc., the hydrogen atom in particular, have a "soul", or aggregate summations of good or evil movements, as one would say in the olden theologically-loaded terms, as this is but a a ‘recital that trips along simple as a fairy tale’, as English physiologist Charles Sherrington put it in his 1938/39 Man on His Nature lectures. To clarify further, however, a few Napoleon Bonaparte quotes seem apt here:

“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”

“Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.”

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”

“Lead the ideas of your time and they will accompany and support you; fall behind them and they drag you along with them; oppose them and they will overwhelm you.”

In short, men are indeed moved, and according to Clausius these movements accrue or rather result by the action of forces, and these movements, for men, depend on the principles (core belief systems) that guide men, and among these various movements, the most difficult thing, according to Napoleon, is "to be able to decide", and this difficulty in indecision, according to Goethe, and his four stages of existence model, shown below, become acute in the third stage of existence (skepticism):

“Every stage of life corresponds to a certain philosophy. A child appears a realist; for it is as certain of the existence of pears and apples as it is of its own being.
(age 9)

(age 15)
A young man, caught up in the storm of his inner passions, has to pay attention to himself, look and feel ahead; he is transformed into an idealist.
(age 24)

(age 38)
A grown man, on the other hand, has every reason to be a skeptic; he is well advised to doubt whether the means he has chosen to achieve his purpose can really be right. Before action and in the course of action he has every reason to keep his mind flexible so that he will not have to grieve later on about a wrong choice.
(age 42)

(age 59)
An old man, however, will always avow mysticism. He sees that so much seems to depend on chance: unreason succeeds, reason fails, fortune and misfortune unexpectedly come to the same thing in the end; this is how things are, how they were, and old age comes to rest in him who is, who was and ever will be.”
(age 69)
(age 81)

“Every stage of life corresponds to a certain philosophy. A child appears a realist; for it is as certain of the existence of pears and apples as it is of its own being.	(age 9)	(age 15)
A young man, caught up in the storm of his inner passions, has to pay attention to himself, look and feel ahead; he is transformed into an idealist.	(age 24)	(age 38)
A grown man, on the other hand, has every reason to be a skeptic; he is well advised to doubt whether the means he has chosen to achieve his purpose can really be right. Before action and in the course of action he has every reason to keep his mind flexible so that he will not have to grieve later on about a wrong choice.	(age 42)	(age 59)
An old man, however, will always avow mysticism. He sees that so much seems to depend on chance: unreason succeeds, reason fails, fortune and misfortune unexpectedly come to the same thing in the end; this is how things are, how they were, and old age comes to rest in him who is, who was and ever will be.”	(age 69)	(age 81)

and that to remedy or rather facilitate this process of action following choice, one must, according to Goethe, turn to the "moral symbols" of physical science, which in Goethe's day was affinity chemistry, but in our day is chemical thermodynamics, of which "entropy", symbol S, function dQ/T, is one of these moral symbols (see also: moral movement); so indeed the submitting author is turning in the seemingly correct direction with digression on entropy and entropy generation as the new moral guiding principle for human kind, but also, to note, digressions on entropy alone in respect to morality is nothing new—a few historical examples include: energetic imperative, thermodynamic imperative, and entropy ethics, to name a few.

So, in short, soul theory digression is a tentative discussion path, but one that must be done with caution so that we do not "trip along in a fairy tale" (the recent 2012 book of Mark Janes, for some reason, comes to mind here?).

Jeff Tuhtan | 9 May 2013 | Post

Comment: This paper is one of the most interesting I have come across on JHT.

pg 55: Can you provide the canonical formula, including control parameters describing the equation mentioned?

Umberto Lucia | 11 May 2013 | Post

Answer: It is not possible to introduce a general formulation because the equation depends on the parameters we want to use and on the phenomena examined. Consequently, it depends on what we want to control.

pg 57: How is the fifth term of the entropy generation physically distinguished from the previous four?

Answer by Umberto Lucia: It is different because it depends on external forces. For example magnetic or electric interaction, etc.

pg 57: Can you provide more behind the statement that "the entropy generation has been proven to always be an extremum?" My understanding is that extremal principles in irreversible thermodynamics are a hotly debated topic. For instance, there also exists a theory of entropy generation minimization.

Since 1995 I am developing this subject, obtaining a lot of results. The proof is as follows.

Starting from the approach of Gouy [Louis Gouy (1854-1926); see: exergy], from 1995, Lucia [35-39] is developing a theoretical and phenomenological approach to entropy generation in order both to introduce a principle of analysis for irreversibility in engineering and science and to obtain an approach related to the ‘natural’ behavior of the phenomena. The mathematical basis of this approach is the variational calculus, while the physical basis is the principle of least action (and the Noether’s theorem too, and some phenomenological hypothesis as follows [39] that entropy generation has an upper limit which is the maximum at the stationary state.

[35] U. Lucia, Mathematical consequences and Gyarmati’s principle in Rational Thermodynamics, Il Nuovo Cimento B110 (10) (1995) 1227-1235.
[36] G. Grazzini, U. Lucia, Global analysis of dissipations due to irreversibility, Revue Générale de Thermique 36 (1997) 605-609.
[37] U. Lucia, Irreversibility entropy variation and the problem of the trend to equilibrium, Physica A 376 (2007) 289-292.
[38] U. Lucia, Probability, ergodicity, irreversibility and dynamical systems, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 464 (2008) 1089-1184.
[39] U. Lucia, Maximum or minimum entropy generation for open systems?, Physica A 391 (12) (2012) 3392-3398.

My references on the subject, with all the proof are:

2013 UMBERTO LUCIA, Irreversible human brain, MEDICAL HYPOTHESES, Elsevier BV:PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam Netherlands:011 31 20 4853757, 011 31 20 4853642, 011 31 20 4853641, EMAIL: nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.nl, Fax: 011 31 20 4853598, pp. 3, 2013, Vol. 80, pagine da 112 a 114, ISSN:

2013 UMBERTO LUCIA, Stationary open systems: A brief review on contemporary theories on irreversibility, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier BV:PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam Netherlands:011 31 20 4853757, 011 31 20 4853642, 011 31 20 4853641, EMAIL: nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.nl, Fax: 011 31 20 4853598, pp. 12, 2013, Vol. 392, pagine da 1051 a 1062, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2012.11.027

2013 UMBERTO LUCIA, Molecular machine as chemical-thermodynamic devices, CHEMICAL PHYSICS LETTERS, Elsevier BV:PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam Netherlands:011 31 20 4853757, 011 31 20 4853642, 011 31 20 4853641, EMAIL: nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.nl, Fax: 011 31 20 4853598, pp. 3, 2013, Vol. 556, pagine da 242 a 244, ISSN: 0009-2614, DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2012.11.064

2013 UMBERTO LUCIA, Entropy and exergy in irreversible renewable energy systems, RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS, Elsevier, pp. 6, 2013, Vol. 20, pagine da 559 a 564, ISSN: 1364-0321, DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.12.017

2013 U. LUCIA,G. MAINO, Entropy generation in biophysical systems, EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, IOP PUBLISHING, pp. 5, 2013, Vol. 101, pagine da 560021 a 560025, ISSN: 0295-5075, DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/101/56002

2012 UMBERTO LUCIA, Entropy generation in technical physics, KUWAIT JOURNAL OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, Academic Publication Council of Kuwait University, pp. 11, 2012, Vol. 39, pagine da 91 a 101, ISSN: 1024-8684

2012 LUCIA U., Maximum or minimum entropy generation for open systems?, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 7, 2012, Vol. 391, pagine da 3392 a 3398, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2012.01.055

2012 UMBERTO LUCIA, Irreversibility in biophysical and biochemical engineering, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier BV:PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam Netherlands:011 31 20 4853757, 011 31 20 4853642, 011 31 20 4853641, EMAIL: nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.nl, Fax: 011 31 20 4853598, pp. 11, 2012, Vol. 391, pagine da 5997 a 6007, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2012.07.018

2010 LUCIA U., Maximum entropy generation and k-exponential model, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 6, 2010, Vol. 389, pagine da 4558 a 4563, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2010.06.047

2009 LUCIA U., Irreversibility, entropy and incomplete information, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 9, 2009, Vol. 388, pagine da 4025 a 4033, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2009.06.027

2009 LUCIA U., GERVINO G., Hydrodynamic cavitation: from theory towards a new experimental approach, CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, Springer, pp. 7, 2009, Vol. 7, pagine da 638 a 644, ISSN: 1895-1082, DOI: 10.2478/s11534-009-0092-y

2008 LUCIA U., Statistical approach of the irreversible entropy variation, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 7, 2008, Vol. 387, pagine da 3454 a 3460, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2008.02.002

2008 LUCIA U., Probability, ergodicity, irreversibility and dynamical systems, PROCEEDINGS - ROYAL SOCIETY. MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES, The Royal Society, pp. 16, 2008, Vol. 464, pagine da 1089 a 1104, ISSN: 1471-2946, DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2007.0304

2007 LUCIA U., Irreversible entropy variation and the problem of the trend to equilibrium, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 4, 2007, Vol. 464, pagine da 289 a 292, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2006.10.059

2006 LUCIA U., GERVINO G., Thermoeconomic analysis of an irreversible Stirling heat pump cycle, THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. B, CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, Springer, pp. 3, 2006, Vol. 50, pagine da 367 a 369, ISSN: 1434-6028, DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2006-00060-x

2006 LUCIA U., MAINO G., The relativistic behaviour of the thermodynamic lagrangian, IL NUOVO CIMENTO DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI FISICA. B, GENERAL PHYSICS, RELATIVITY, ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS AND METHODS, SIF - Società Italiana di Fisica, pp. 4, 2006, Vol. 121, pagine da 213 a 216, ISSN: 1594-9982, DOI: 10.1393/ncb/i2006-10035-8

2002 LUCIA U., MAINO G., Thermodynamical analysis of the dynamics of tumor interaction with the host immune system, PHYSICA. A, Elsevier, pp. 9, 2002, Vol. 313, pagine da 569 a 577, ISSN: 0378-4371, DOI: 10.1016/S0168-583X(03)01548-9

2001 LUCIA U., Irreversibility and entropy in Rational Thermodynamics, RICERCHE DI MATEMATICA, Aracne, pp. 11, 2001, Vol. L1, pagine da 77 a 87, ISSN: 0035-5038

2000 LUCIA U., Physical model for the engineering analysis of the thermoelasticity of solid bodies, CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, Chinese J. Mechanical Engineering, pp. 6, 2000, Vol. 13, pagine da 165 a 170

1998 LUCIA U., Maximum principle and open systems including two-phase flows, REVUE GENERALE DE THERMIQUE, Elsevier (oggi è International Journal of thermal sciences), pp. 5, 1998, Vol. 37, pagine da 813 a 817, ISSN: 0035-3159

1998 U. LUCIA,M. CAUSÀ, The maximum entropy variation and the calculation of the lattice constant, NUOVO CIMENTO DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI FISICA. D CONDENSED MATTER, ATOMIC, MOLECULAR AND CHEMICAL PHYSICS, BIOPHYSICS, SIF - Società Italiana di Fisica, pp. 4, 1998, Vol. 20, pagine da 807 a 810, ISSN: 0392-6737, DOI: 10.1007/BF03185481

1997 UMBERTO LUCIA,GIUSEPPE GRAZZINI, Global analysis of dissipations due to irreversibility, REVUE GENERALE DE THERMIQUE, Elsevier (oggi è International Journal of thermal sciences), pp. 5, 1997, Vol. 36, pagine da 605 a 609, ISSN: 0035-3159, DOI: 10.1016/S0035-3159(97)89987-4

1995 U. LUCIA, Mathematical consequences of Gyarmati’s principle in rational thermodynamics, NUOVO CIMENTO. B, SIF - Società Italiana di Fisica, pp. 9, 1995, Vol. 110, pagine da 1227 a 1235, ISSN: 0369-3554, DOI: 10.1007/BF02724612

pg 57: What is meant by stability in the physical sense?

Answer by Umberto Lucia: stability means that a stationary state is maintained for a long time without modifications.

pg 60: The concept of participated being as the partner to form is intriguing, especially as thermodynamics is traditionally a black-box approach which cannot easily account for the morphological characteristics of macroscopic systems. Can you elaborate a bit more on this connection, as well as on the cooperation / network concepts?

Yes, the black box approach is interesting, but the approach here used can link the external properties with the internal ones. Indeed, it is possible to link inside and outside of the system by means of the entropy generation and entropy production.

General comment: After reading the paper, it still remains unclear to me how the works of Aquinas are related to entropy generation in the human brain. If I understood correctly, Aquinas made the connection between brain and memory as matter and thermodynamic process? But how does this relate to ethical issues, or not remain just as relevant for any organism having a brain?

In the XIII Century St. Thomas Aquinas stated a philosophical consideration [1]: "It is impossible for an effect to be stronger than its cause". This statement can be considered as a first step, or a verbal expression, of the Second Law of thermodynamics. It isn't usually introduced, but it is the first author to explain irreversibility.

If I understood correctly, Aquinas made the connection between brain and memory as matter and thermodynamic process?

Yes

But how does this relate to ethical issues, or not remain just as relevant for any organism having a brain?

I think that St. Thomas is a "natural philosopher" in the sense that his philosophy and theology is related to Nature. Ethics means agreeing with the natural behavior of nature for the phenomenon considered.

Jeff Tuhtan | 12 May 2013 | Post

Comment: Thank you for your responses. I only have one remaining comment regarding the statement "the entropy generation has been proven to always be an extremum".

From your response, it appears that perhaps the statement should be reformulated to reflect the specific conditions under which it is strictly true: the entropy generation can be shown to be maximal at the stationary state, and otherwise has an upper limit for non-equilibrium states. Otherwise it may lead some readers to believe that the entropy variation due to irreversibility (entropy generation) is always an extremum. Furthermore, for cases in which the entropy generation occurs in systems which are free to change in space and over time, there is no general extremal principle for the entropy generation.That the entropy generation may serve as a general selection rule relating the initial and final conditions is also very interesting, especially for the post-mortem analysis of historical engineering designs.

It would be difficult to apply the steady state conditions to many natural systems, such as a human brain due to the spatial heterogeneity and instationarity of the gradients which drive the system. Indeed, it may be this heterogeneity itself which acts as the major obstacle to apply theoretical formulations from thermodynamics to complex natural systems.

Umberto Lucia | 12 May 2013 | Post

Answer: It is more simpler than it appears. Indeed, for example, a cell can live if there is a balance between inflow and outflow energy. This balance can be described by the energy balance of a stationary system. If the cell is not in a stationary state it increases or decreases its energy. If it increases energy it increases its temperature and the cell becomes a cancer cell. If desreases its temperature it cannot continue to live. All complex natural systems are in stationary states (non-equilibrium, but stationary) and they have transitions between their possible stationary states. If the system is not in a stationary state it is in transition, but at the end of a transition it reaches a stationary state. For me stationary means that there exists an balance equation of entropy and exergy like the ones used in engineering thermodynamics for open or closed systems.

Libb Thims | 12 May 2013 | Post

Note: I added Lucia's fuller 11 May 2013 response (with equations) to Tuhtan's review as an attachment to this page (below) for those interested.

Arto Annila | 17 May 2013 | Email

Comments: The study employs thermodynamics to make sense of the operational principle of brain. The bold approach as such attracts attention, and hence deserves further examination. I find the study well-motivated and its arguments are solid, although I do realize that some of are controversial. However, it would be only welcomed if the paper would generate debate on the operational principle of brain. Thus I recommend publication by JHT whose readers I expect to value the insights most. My comments below are intended to help the author to improve the paper further.

Page 55. “the small systems dissipates energy continuously, so they operates in non-equilibrium states.” I am worried how the concept non-equilibrium state is understood, because a continuous and constant dissipation implies a free-energy minimum state where input equals output. A non-stationary state is characterized by a changing dissipation as the system moves from one state to another. Therefore the word non-equilibrium implies for many as a non-stationary or meta-stable state, however, the continuous and constant dissipation does not imply vulnerability.

Page 56. The reference to the well-known paper [1994 (abs)] by Evans and Searles is formulated exceptionally accurately, because the fluctuation theorem about the probability of observing an entropy production opposite to that dictated by the second law of thermodynamics decreases exponentially, claims that entropy would have some probability to decrease which is in conflict with conservation of quanta.

Page 56. The concept of force would benefit from further identification to an energy difference or a gradient and to free energy and eventually also to affinity which all mean the same.

Page 57. A system is prone for instable behavior when the ratio of free energy over average energy is above unity, i.e. A/kT > 1, because then trajectory changes so rapidly that it no longer appears as continuous.

Page 58. Only small fluctuations about the free energy minimum are approximately normal (symmetrical), however, in general and apparent in large fluctuations the distribution is not symmetrical but approximately log-normal.

Page 59. Quote of Hawking may be worth referring to, but would benefit from clarifying that entropy is not a measure of disorder, but logarithmic probability S = k ln P where probability P is a measure of relative free energy.

I agree that Thomas Aquinas saw the brain accurately not as a structure but a process, and hence the early insight can indeed be related to thermodynamics that describes both stationary and evolutionary processes as the maximum entropy states and maximal entropy generation, respectively. To draw inspiration from the early thinkers is well-motivated today when science has diversified to specialties, and lost the holistic view that is need to explain complex systems.

Umberto Lucia | 20 May 2013 | 5:11 PM EDT | Post

Response: My paper began after the reading of the Annila's paper: "Thoughts About Thinking" (pdf) (Advanced Studies in Biology, 2013 5, 135–149). It was so interesting that I decided to study the subject from an engineering thermodynamic point of view.

Libb Thims | 20 May 2013 | 10:18 EDT | Post

Comment: Re: "entropy is not a measure of disorder, but logarithmic probability S = k ln P where probability P is a measure of relative free energy", I do not recall immediately having read any works by "Annila", although I do note that I have Hmolpedia-cited him at least three times, for two of his articles:

http://www.eoht.info/search/everything/Annila?contains=Annila

● Kaila, Ville R.I. and Annila, Arto. (2008). “Natural Selection for Least Action”, Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
● Annila, Arto and Salthe, Stanley. (2009). “Economies Evolve by Energy Dispersal” (abs), Entropy, 11(4): 606-33.

hence, I must have at least slimmed his abstracts previously, and from these returns, I note that his association with Stanley Salthe and Salthe's nearly bend-over-backwards incoherent "infodynamics" theory is a huge red flag. In any event, this last (Page 59) review comment by Annila, raises a lot of red flags:

● Re: "entropy is not a measure of disorder", this conflicts with Rudolf Clausius, and his 1862 "disgregation" model of entropy, with Hermann Helmholtz and his 1882 unordered motion model of the magnitude of entropy |S|:

“Unordered motion, in contrast, would be such that the motion of each individual particle need have no similarity to its neighbors. We have ample grounds to believe that heat-motion is of the latter kind, and one may in this sense characterize the magnitude of entropy as the measure of disorder.”

and with the Boltzmann-Planck based principle of elementary disorder (1899) and with the followup Walther Nernst derived heat theorem (1907) model of entropy, according to which at absolute zero is characterized by perfect crystalline order and quantified by zero entropy.

the latter statement (Page 59) review comment by Annila, again raises a many red flags:

● Re: "but [entropy where correctly is the] logarithmic probability S = k ln P where probability P is a measure of relative free energy", firstly (a) it amazes me as to the number of people who are gung-ho happy to jump into measures of entropy of non-ideal gas systems (such as the atoms and molecules of the brain) via using the Boltzmann-Planck entropy equation, in spite of the fine print that this equation uses the Boltzmann constant (gas constant/Avogadro number) and is only valid, supposedly, for particles having non-correlated velocity (axons, dendrites, and neurons are hardly ideal gas particles), and (b) the probability P, or correctly the W, from the German Wahrscheinlichkeit (var-SHINE-leash-kite), meaning probability, often referred to as multiplicity (in English)—the number of “states” (often modeled as quantum states), or "complexions", the particles or entities of the system can be found in according to the various energies with which they may each be assigned—supposedly, according to Annila, is the measure of the "relative free energy" of the brain, if I am not mistaken about his conjecture, is a proof I am surely awaiting to see.

Curtis Blakely | 20 May 2013 | Email

Comments: Here is my review of “Entropy Generation, Brain Dynamics and Thomas Aquinas.”

It reads a bit harsh/negative - so feel free not to post it, to modify it, post it as is – just whatever you decide to do is fine with me.

Overall, I found it a bit weak – but again, that is just my opinion…..

I have read and reread this article several times – and not being a specialist in brain dynamics or even Thomas Aquinas, I have enjoyed it nonetheless. It has made me think about several interdisciplinary linkages that I have not previously considered. So for that reason, I applaud the efforts of the author.

However, I do have several comments about the article and I will present them in a constructive manner not just for the author’s benefit but for all readers that are now composing their own scientific papers.

First, there are minor problems with the words that are occasionally used (i.e. making a word plural when it shouldn’t be, forgetting to add an “ed” to the end of a word, etc.). While this is not a major issue, it can detract from the message being conveyed.

Secondly, in the author’s human thermodynamics table, I would suggest that he add the terms equilibrium, exergy, entropy generation, etc. It appears that the author has a good grasp of these terms/processes, but perhaps he should operationalize them for his readers – this would eliminate/minimize confusion. For example, the author provides the following sentence that I find a bit confusing: Consequently, when a new energy exchange occurs, the brain system follows the thermodynamic paths which allow the individual to rationalize the perception, consuming the exergy associated to the signal and growing its entropy generation ( and this is just one of several). I ascribe to the belief that an author’s primary purpose is to make the reader’s job as effortless as possible. The author should always keep his/her reader in mind.

I am not acquainted with Aquinas - so had the author provided a bit more background, it would have been welcomed. I also found the transition between the statements regarding the Protestant reformation and the distinction between matter and intellect a bit abrupt.

I am also not convinced by the statements that the brain only learns what is useful….or that Aquinas understood the complex structure of the brain. Statements like these will be assessed by each reader – and like me, they may find them unconvincing.

I don’t want to sound too critical, but in a sense, this paper raised more question for me than it provided answers.

Umberto Lucia | 20 May 2013 | Post

Response: I agree that something can be added on St Thomas. I decided to study St Thomas because he developed his philosophy/theology before the Reformation. I think that the difficulties in some statement are the consequence of the English form written by a person who think in Italian and tries to write/speak English.

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Exercises \| Homework problems \| Other

Exercises | Homework problems | Other

On the wise protocol of Swedish physical chemist Sture Nordholm's penning of eight homework problems to his 1997 Journal of Chemical Education article “In Defense of Thermodynamics: an Animate Analogy”, the submitting author has provide (7 May 2013) two homework problems and or exercises, shown below, that will be added to the finial version of the submitted article, if published:

● Problem #1: Describe how the brain can obtain information from the environment by using the exergy.

● Problem #2: Describe how the entropy generation represents a fundamental quantity for obtaining cell information from the brain.

JHT editor Libb Thims may, down the road, end up writing a Chemical Thermodynamics: with Applications in the Humanities textbook, built on Gilbert Lewis' famous 1923 Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances, and some of these JHT homework problems may find their way into the end of chapter exercises.

References
1. Thims, Libb. (2013). “Econoengineering and Economic Behavior: Particle, Atom, Molecule, or Agent Models?” (abs) (main), University of Pitesti Econophysics and Sociophysics Workshop (UPESW) 2013 / Exploratory Domains of Econophysics News (EDEN V) (organizer: Gheorghe Savoiu). University of Pitesti, Pitesti, Romania, Jun 29.
2. Freeman, Walter J. (2008). “Nonlinear Brain Dynamics and Intention According to Aquinas” (abs) (pdf), Mind & Matter 6(2): 207-234.