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  "slug": "risks-of-pancomputationalism",
  "title": "Risks of Pancomputationalism",
  "authors": [
    "Rowan Brad Quni-Gudzinas"
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  "abstract": "This paper addresses the profound challenges inherent in developing theories of emergent spacetime, which posit that spacetime is not fundamental but arises from a deeper, pre-geometric reality. The central generative thesis is that the pursuit of this pre-geometric bedrock is fraught with two primary perils: the risk of becoming lost in purely formal mathematical abstraction, leading to theories detached from physical intuition and empirical testability, and the risk of falling into the philosophical void of trivial pancomputationalism, where the concept of “computation” loses all explanatory power. This document meticulously dissects these risks, analyzing the inherent nature of mathematical abstraction and critically examining the philosophical arguments against trivial pancomputationalism. It then explores the necessary constraints and philosophical shifts required to navigate these dangers, using Causal Set Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, and the Wolfram Physics Project as case studies. [...]",
  "abstract_markdown": "This paper addresses the profound challenges inherent in developing theories of emergent spacetime, which posit that spacetime is not fundamental but arises from a deeper, pre-geometric reality. The central generative thesis is that the pursuit of this pre-geometric bedrock is fraught with two primary perils: the risk of becoming lost in purely formal mathematical abstraction, leading to theories detached from physical intuition and empirical testability, and the risk of falling into the philosophical void of trivial pancomputationalism, where the concept of “computation” loses all explanatory power. This document meticulously dissects these risks, analyzing the inherent nature of mathematical abstraction and critically examining the philosophical arguments against trivial pancomputationalism. It then explores the necessary constraints and philosophical shifts required to navigate these dangers, using Causal Set Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, and the Wolfram Physics Project as case studies. [...]",
  "date": "2025-09-01",
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        "description": "This paper addresses the profound challenges inherent in developing theories of emergent spacetime, which posit that spacetime is not fundamental but arises from a deeper, pre-geometric reality. The central generative thesis is that the pursuit of this pre-geometric bedrock is fraught with two primary perils: the risk of becoming lost in purely formal mathematical abstraction, leading to theories detached from physical intuition and empirical testability, and the risk of falling into the philosophical void of trivial pancomputationalism, where the concept of “computation” loses all explanatory power. This document meticulously dissects these risks, analyzing the inherent nature of mathematical abstraction and critically examining the philosophical arguments against trivial pancomputationalism. It then explores the necessary constraints and philosophical shifts required to navigate these dangers, using Causal Set Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, and the Wolfram Physics Project as case studies. [...]",
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