The Third Law of Thermodynamics says that energy seeks to move from areas of high heat to low heat until a calm equilibrium of everything is attained. Water at a high level will flow to a lower level whenever it can. The force of gravity causes the water to move downward. But often this movement builds a complex structure as it moves! For example, when we pull the plug on a bathtub full of water, it will form a spiraling whirlpool as the water leaves the tub. Why? because the spiral structure of the whirlpool moves more water faster. Similarly, on land, flowing water creates the structures of streams and rivers. If a wooden water wheel is built on one of these flows, it can power the grinding of grain between two millstones. With a very large drop of a great deal of water, the energy released by the force of gravity can turn gigantic steel turbine blades, and that energy can be converted to electricity for human homes and industries.
In his excellent book, The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity, the neuroscientist Dr. Bobby Azarian tells us that energy flows also create chains of molecules, chemical structures, which are then further propelled to become the earliest form of life. He persuasively argues that in the right environments, Energy Flows always drive systems into forms of greater complexity. This is what Dr. Azarian calls the “Fourth Law of Thermodynamics.” Azarian argues that this is happening in the millions of Earth-like planets and moons in our Milky Way galaxy. Of those, a good number will evolve consciousness and intelligence. While we humans may so mismanage our energy flows and resources that we kill off our biosphere here on Earth, hundreds of thousands of suitable planets and moons in the Milky Way alone will be more successful. As all these planets and moons communicate with each other, the Universe itself is on track to “wake up.”