Recent theoretical progress in nonequilibrium thermodynamics, linking the
physical principle of Maximum Entropy Production ("MEP") to the
information-theoretical "MaxEnt" principle of scientific inference, together
with conjectures from theoretical physics that there may be no fundamental
causal laws but only probabilities for physical processes, and from
evolutionary theory that biological systems expand "the adjacent possible" as
rapidly as possible, all lend credence to the proposition that probability
should be recognized as a fundamental physical motive. It is further proposed
that spatial order and temporal order are two aspects of the same thing, and
that this is the essence of the second law of thermodynamics.Comment: Replaced at the request of the publisher. Minor corrections to
references and to Equation 1 added
