2025/06/16 by Vincent C. Müller, Müller, Vincent C.
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Embodied and Extended Cognition #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Other Computer Science (cs.OH) #Philosophy and Theoretical Science
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2506.13263
openalex publication_date 2025/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The theory that all processes in the universe are computational is attractive in its promise to provide an understandable theory of everything. I want to suggest here that this pancomputationalism is not sufficiently clear on which problem it is trying to solve, and how. I propose two interpretations of pancomputationalism as a theory: I) the world is a computer and II) the world can be described as a computer. The first implies a thesis of supervenience of the physical over computation and is thus reduced ad absurdum. The second is underdetermined by the world, and thus equally unsuccessful as theory. Finally, I suggest that pancomputationalism as metaphor can be useful.