THE UNIVERSE AS A COMPUTER, John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler is a bit of a hero for me (and also, like all good hero’s a bit of a villain). Discovering his paper “It from Bit” was definitely a huge inspiration for me to get into the field. When I found Wheeler’s paper it led me to Bill Wootters work, and I immediately charged my parents hundreds of dollars to get a copy of very paper Bill had written (I mean who wouldn’t want to read “Quantum mechanics without probability amplitudes“) Amusingly these days I think many who claim the mantle of “it from bit” have not actually read the paper, which is quite radical, you should definitely stop reading this blog and read the paper if you have not.
Because Wheeler is someone who I’ve always been interested in, I was Googling (company plug) around the other day and found out the the American Philosophical Society has a collection with papers, notes, etc from Wheeler. Among these is a typed up note that I don’t think ever made it into a paper, but which I really loved. The title of the note is “THE UNIVERSE AS A COMPUTER”, and is dated “[1980?]”. In it Wheeler first lists possible meanings for the expression “the universe as a computer” followed by possible implications for this metaphor. And by list, I don’t mean a small list, he puts down 48 possible meanings. I love it.
NOTE: Such metaphors tend to be at once useful and misleading. They are understood only intuitively, vaguely, partially, ambiguously, and abstractly by their authors and users. They are apt to be polysemous–possessed of multiple and complex meanings, both relevant and irrelevant. Moreover, in the present instance the utilitarian and natural meaning of the very words universe and computer is unknown to an indefinite degree! Physicists who are trying to conceive a new cosmology based in part on the metaphor of the universe as a computer may find the following list clarifying, heuristic, provocative, useful for self-criticism or discussion, &c. It is a partial list that needs to be extended, systematized, edited, explained, and illuminated by examples and corollaries.
