"Is the whole universe a computer?", ask Jack Copeland, Mark Sprevak, and Oron Shagrir in chapter 41 of the book The Turing Guide. They split this question in two, first asking whether the universe itself is a computer, then whether the universe could even be computed. These are lofty, unanswerable questions, sure, but they encroach on our territory — philosophy, automata, nonsense. So, in our usual reverent style and with attentive pacing, the three of us explore the paper, the questions, the answers they choose to highlight, and even share a few perfectly reasonable answers of our own.

Links

$ Patreon

In no particular order:
Carl Sagan
What it means to be open was Lu's talk at Heart of Clojure
Rudy Rucker
Is the brain a digital computer? by John Searle
The Plankth of time.
C is Not a Low-Level Language by David Chisnall
The Connection Machine!!
Komgloverav… Komolgorov…
Outer Worlds?
Outer Wilds?
The Witness

Music featured in this episode:
No! That's a spoiler. No way I'm telling you.

! Send us email, share your ideas in the Slack, and catch us while you still can:
Carl: Mastodon • Website
Jimmy: Mastodon • Website
Lu: Mastodon • Website

See you in the future!

https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74

"<a href="https://marksprevak.com/pdf/paper/Sprevak---The%20Computable%20Universe.pdf">Is the whole universe a computer?</a>", ask Jack Copeland, Mark Sprevak, and Oron Shagrir in chapter 41 of the book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turing_Guide">The Turing Guide</a>. They split this question in two, first asking whether the universe itself is a computer, then whether the universe could even be computed. These are lofty, unanswerable questions, sure, but they encroach on our territory &mdash;&nbsp;philosophy, automata, nonsense. So, in our usual reverent style and with attentive pacing, the three of us explore the paper, the questions, the answers they choose to highlight, and even share a few perfectly reasonable answers of our own.
Links
$ <a href="https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding">Patreon</a>
In no particular order:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJzV0CX0q8o">What it means to be open</a> was Lu's talk at Heart of Clojure</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Rucker">Rudy Rucker</a></li>
<li><a href="https://courses.cs.umbc.edu/graduate/671/fall21/resources/searle_2002.pdf">Is the brain a digital computer?</a> by John Searle</li>
<li>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units#Planck_time">Plankth of time</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3212479">C is Not a Low-Level Language</a> by David Chisnall</li>
<li><a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion/112578884737169457">The Connection Machine!!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmogorov_complexity">Komgloverav&hellip; Komolgorov&hellip;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Wilds">Outer Worlds?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Worlds">Outer Wilds?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHt4uJyhJo8">The Witness</a></li>
</ul>
Music featured in this episode:
<ul>
<li>No! That's a spoiler. No way I'm telling you.</li>
</ul>
! Send us <a href="mailto:admin@futureofcoding.org?subject=Email%20from%20a%20listener">email</a>, share your ideas in the <a href="https://futureofcoding.org/community">Slack</a>, and catch us while you still can:
<ul>
<li>Carl: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Website</a></li>
<li>Jimmy: <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@jimmyhmiller">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Website</a></li>
<li>Lu: <a href="https://mas.to/@todepond">Mastodon</a> &bull; <a href="https://www.todepond.com/">Website</a></li>
</ul>
See you in the future!
<a href="https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74">https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/74</a>

A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philosophy, art, dark lore, and good takes. Hosted by Ivan Reese, Jimmy Miller, and Lu Wilson.

A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philosophy, art, dark lore, and good takes. Hosted by <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Ivan Reese</a>, <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Jimmy Miller</a>, and <a href="https://todepond.com/">Lu Wilson</a>.

Future of Coding

An imaginative, ruminative romp through the land of poisoned sand. What even are computers, where did they come from, and how might we make them radically different. Hosted by Ivan Reese, Jimmy Miller, and Lu Wilson.

An imaginative, ruminative romp through the land of poisoned sand. What even are computers, where did they come from, and how might we make them radically different. Hosted by <a href="https://ivanish.ca/">Ivan Reese</a>, <a href="https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/">Jimmy Miller</a>, and <a href="https://todepond.com/">Lu Wilson</a>.

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