[ClearCase_guy]

Thermodynamics and entropy — randomness causes loss over time. One should not expect random events to increase order and complexity.

[Rebel_Ace]

"...Thermodynamics and entropy — randomness causes loss over time. One should not expect random events to increase order and complexity..."

Observed over an ENTIRE system, you just can't beat the law of thermodynamics. However, the EARTH is not the entire system. Life in all its complex forms depends largely on the Sun, which is busy converting HUGE amounts of Hydrogen matter into essentially wasted energy, contributing to the over all entropy of the Universe.

The EARTH, on the other hand, looks like a little pocket of non conformity, because the systems here on the planet are bathed in the waste energy of the Sun. This energy looks like "something for nothing" if you only consider the Earth.

So, the basis for increasing energy content and complexity here on Earth is the fact we get gobs of waste energy from the Sun. One day, the Sun will run out of fuel, and the party will be over.

However, in the meantime, random reactions and chemical compounds CAN be driven "up" the scale of complexity, at the cost of tons and tons of Hydrogen mass being converted 93 million miles away.