Abstract
The physical world, in the sense of that system matching the description provided by physical theories, is as digital or analogue as the theories themselves. There is no logical necessity either way, and it seems perfectly possible for reality to be described by a dual system. 'Reality itself,' by which I mean whatever it is that physical theories aim to latch on to, might be either or, more likely, something inscrutable: it seems unlikely that intentional-system- centric notions would have counterparts in reality, independently of minds. Inasmuch as our minds are capable of latching physical theories onto reality, the best that can be hoped for is a purely structural/relational matching, and in this sense reality is indeed digital, for our linchpins are precisely discrete, identifiable events, be they the elementary bits of Wheeler, or the elementary correlations of gauge theory.
Dean Rickles