Abstract
With his aphorism 'it from bit', Wheeler argued that anything physical, any 'it', ultimately derives its very existence entirely from discrete detector-elicited information-theoretic answers to yes or no quantum binary choices: 'bits'. In this spirit, many theorists now give ontological primacy to information. To test the idea, I identify three distinct kinds of information and find that things, not information, are primary. Examination of what Wheeler meant by 'it' and 'bit' then leads me to invert his aphorism: 'bit' derives from 'it'. I argue that this weakens but not necessarily destroys the argument that nature is fundamentally digital and continuity an illusion. There may also be implications for the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the nature of time, causality and the world.
Julian Barbour