Abstract
The subject of this essay contest is “Is Reality Digital or Analog?”. Here, I suggest that reality, or what I call existence, is, at its base, digital (ie, discrete), but whether or not it is perceived by an observer as digital or analog (ie, continuous) depends on the perspective of the observer. The rationale for this argument is as follows. First, I propose that a thing exists because what is contained within, or meant by, that thing is completely defined. A complete definition is equivalent to an edge or boundary delimiting what is contained within the thing. If existent things require the presence of a complete definition/edge/boundary to exist, this means that existence comes in the form of discrete, or digital, chunks delimited by this edge. Next, I describe how an infinite set of discrete elements appears to an observer as either discrete or continuous depending on the perspective of the observer relative to the set. I show how this situation may relate to the perception of a discrete reality as either discrete or continuous depending on the perspective of the observer relative to reality. Finally, using the above definition of an existent thing as having a complete definition, I propose a discrete, cellular automata-like model for existence.
Roger Granet