The situation changed in the late 1990s, when the physicists Gavin Crooks and Chris Jarzynski derived “fluctuation theorems” that can be used to quantify how much more often certain physical processes happen than reverse processes. These theorems allow researchers to study how systems evolve — even far from equilibrium.
look at these papers
maybe there’s more that you can get for free
Most of what's here in this article (and likely in the underlying papers) sounds to me to have been heavily influenced by the writings of W. Loewenstein and S. Kauffman. They've laid out some models/ideas that need more rigorous testing and work, and this seems like a reasonable start to the process.
The "get for free" phrase itself is very S. Kauffman in my mind. I'm curious how many times it appears in his work?
Any claims that it has to do with biology or the origins of life, he added, are “pure and shameless speculations.”
Some truly harsh words from his former supervisor? Wow!