Is the universe a computation?

What if reality isn’t made of matter or energy at its deepest level, but information? Could the universe itself be performing a grand computation? Across physics, computer science, and philosophy, a growing number of ideas suggest that reality itself might be fundamentally computational.

While it can certainly verge on science fiction, it isn’t all crackpottery. From black holes to quantum mechanics, from entropy to simulation theory, serious thinkers have argued that bits, logic, and information may underlie the laws of physics themselves.

Here, I’ll provide a taxonomy that organizes the main concepts that explore this idea, sorted into three categories:

Accepted Physics — Ideas derived from mainstream, empirically supported theories.
Proposals for New Physics — Speculative or emerging hypotheses that extend known physics.
Analogies and Interpretations — Conceptual frameworks and thought experiments.

Each concept offers a lens through which to view the universe as a kind of information processor.

Accepted Physics

These are ideas derived from or within well-supported theories and principles from mainstream physics that incorporate or imply a deep connection between information and the physical world.