File: 9 October 2026 · Source date: 9 October 2026
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A computer is not an abstract idea, but a physical system that uses energy. Over energy, degrees of freedom, and the age of the universe, Seth Lloyd calculated upper limits for the information the observable universe could record and the basic operations it could perform. This study discusses the limited information processing capacity of the universe with the laws of physics.
Why is the limit not evidence?
Describing the universe as an information-processing system does not mean that it is running on an external computer. The same mathematics can explain both the evolution of a natural physical system and a program that imitates that system. The simulation claim also requires an observation that differs from competing natural models.
The value of thought experimentation
The limits of computation make you question how many resources a perfect copy of the universe would require. However, since the physics laws of the simulator, the hardware it uses, and what details it calculates are not known, the exact probability cannot be deduced.
discussion question
What bridge of evidence can be built between the fact that the universe is computable and the fact that it is actually being computed?
Resources and further reading
Seth Lloyd — Computational Capacity of the Universe ↗Seth Lloyd — Ultimate Physical Limits to Computation ↗Share your answer
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