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Bottom-up or top-down. What exactly is the nature of reality?
At the very tip of the Statue of Liberty, defining the highest point on Lady Liberty’s torch, sits a single atom of gold.
Why is it there?
Does the answer lie solely in the realm of fundamental physical laws, or must we turn to principles of information to truly understand? Or, the real question: what fundamentally governs our universe — the immutable laws of physics, or the ever-evolving patterns of information?
While physical laws exclusively govern the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions, the universe’s complexity gives rise to emergent patterns where information resides. To understand these patterns — especially those imbued with meaning and purpose by human agency, such as the gold on the Statue of Liberty — requires acknowledging descriptive informational principles. These principles articulate how information, though always physically encoded in matter, shapes our understanding and provides explanations for higher-order realities.
Thus, physical laws and informational descriptions are not in inherent tension but are complementary and necessary. One describes matter and its rules, the other the emergent patterns and their significance.
