Guy Hoelzer  wrote or quoted:

> I never suggested that cells, viruses, or the process of reproduction 
> were physical NECESSITIES.  I don't think that they are physical 
> necessities any more than convection, or lightening, or vortices, or 
> galaxies, or any other particular phenomena.  I do, however, think that 
> all processes (e.g., reproduction) and dissipative systems (e.g., 
> cells) are underpinned by their service to thermodynamics through
> maximization of the rate of entropy gain in the universe.  Honestly.

As I argue on:

  http://originoflife.net/bright_light/

....talking about "maximization of the rate of entropy gain in the 
universe" may not be quite correct.

It seems reasonable to think that living systems can conserve resources 
in times of scarcity - in the hope of surviving until resources become
plentiful again - and this is /not/ behaviour that would maximise the rate 
of entropy increase during the resource shortage.

If a biologically-based entropic maximand is proposed, I therefore
think that it can't simply stress short term measurements of entropy
increase - instead, it must consider long-term effects.

This is directly analogous to the situation with maximising genetic
descendants:

Genes should be expected to maximise the number of their long-term
descendants - rather than the number of their immediate offspring.
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