{"id":583,"date":"2013-09-02T14:07:18","date_gmt":"2013-09-02T14:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monochromist.com\/2013\/09\/02\/this-informational-metaphysics-may-but-does-not\/"},"modified":"2013-09-02T14:07:18","modified_gmt":"2013-09-02T14:07:18","slug":"this-informational-metaphysics-may-but-does-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2013\/09\/02\/this-informational-metaphysics-may-but-does-not\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>This informational metaphysics may, but does not have to, endorse a more controversial view of the physical universe as a gigantic digital computer, according to which dynamic processes are some kind of transitions in computational states. The distinction may seem subtle, but it is crucial. Imagine describing the stomach as if it were a computer (with inputs, processing stages, and output) versus holding that the stomach actually is a computer. Whether the physical universe might be effectively and adequately modelled digitally and computationally is a different question from whether the ultimate nature of the physical universe might be actually digital and computational in itself. The first is an empirico-mathematical question that, so far, remains unsettled. The second is a metaphysical question that should probably be answered in the negative, at least according to the majority of physicists and philosophers. One reason is because the models proposed in digital physics are not easily reconcilable with our current understanding of the universe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class='attribution'><b>Floridi, Luciano.<\/b> <i>Information: A Very Short Introduction<\/i>.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. (via <a href=\"http:\/\/carvalhais.tumblr.com\/\" class=\"tumblr_blog\">carvalhais<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This informational metaphysics may, but does not have to, endorse a more controversial view of the physical universe as a gigantic digital computer, according to which dynamic processes are some kind of transitions in computational states. The distinction may seem subtle, but it is crucial. Imagine describing the stomach as if it were a computer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","hentry","category-video_graphics","post_format-post-format-quote"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5sGHy-9p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3915,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2011\/03\/04\/the-universe-is-a-huge-computational-machine-or\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":0},"title":"the universe is a huge\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"March 4, 2011","format":"quote","excerpt":"the universe is a huge computational machine, or rather a network of computational processes which, following fundamental physical laws, computes (dynamically develops) its own next state from the current one Digital physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (via purestform)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4599,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2011\/01\/17\/the-computational-medium\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":1},"title":"The Computational Medium","author":"monochromist","date":"January 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"purestform: Computation and mathematics provide an alluring common language between scientific models and aesthetic practice. Computation is a vital tool for scientific simulation and also open-ended material for art. By designing and instantiating complex autonomous systems, we open the door to a new kind of knowledge based on synthesis of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4818,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2009\/11\/29\/spirituality-and-science-the-holographic-universe\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":2},"title":"Spirituality and Science: The Holographic Universe","author":"monochromist","date":"November 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"By Michael Talbot We are really \u201creceivers\u201d floating through a kaleidoscopic sea of frequency, and what we extract from this sea and transmogrify into physical reality is but one channel from many extracted out of the superhologram. In 1982 a remarkable event took place. At the University of Paris, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2548,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2012\/05\/03\/via-the-universal-machine-applying-the\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":3},"title":"(via The Universal Machine: Applying\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"May 3, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"(via The Universal Machine: Applying the \u201cComputational Lens\u201d)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/tumblr_m3ff0rHFc31qzsz45o1_500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2013\/06\/14\/sagansense-the-mind-is-a-vehicle-it-takes-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":4},"title":"sagansense: the mind is a\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"June 14, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"sagansense: the mind is a vehicle. it takes you from one destination to another. it provides you with windows for you to see different perspectives. it allows you the possibility to travel at various speeds & frequencies. it protects you from exterior forces, yet is fragile enough to be damaged\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/tumblr_modhy08MPz1r01w8mo1_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1996,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2013\/06\/08\/scienceisbeauty-the-universe-simulated-the\/","url_meta":{"origin":583,"position":5},"title":"scienceisbeauty: The Universe simulated: The\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"June 8, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"scienceisbeauty: The Universe simulated: The distribution of dark matter in a large-scale numerical simulation of the Universe. Credit:\u00a0Virgo Consortium Source: Measuring and Understanding the Universe by W. Freedman,\u00a0NASA\/IPAC Extragalactic Database.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;motion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/tumblr_mo2r54QmWZ1qaityko1_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}