Abstract
The assumption that classical information derives from underlying objects or things, with absolute properties, may be impeding progress in physics. Taking Wheeler's "it from bit" seriously requires placing informational systems in relational context to each other. Doing so raises questions about the nature of the early universe, and suggests a possible "simplest-case scenario" for ultimate reality. An informational mechanics could describe the world as a compact, evolutionary system of information, where objects, spacetime, and physical laws emerge in relation to topologically connected complex subsystems ("observers"). Under this program, interpretational concerns may be neglected, while recovering the full predictive power of 20th-century quantum mechanics.
Karl Coryat