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The Dangers of Calling Everything a Computer
A plain-language version of “Risks of Pancomputationalism”
The short version
Some scientists think space and time are not basic parts of reality. They think space and time emerge from something deeper. This paper warns that this search faces two big dangers. The ideas could become empty math with no link to real world tests, or the word "computation" could become so broad that it explains nothing.
Why space and time might not be basic
Modern physics rests on two great theories. One theory explains gravity and the large scale of the universe. The other theory explains tiny particles and three other forces. These two theories clash badly. They use completely different ways of describing reality. At the centers of black holes and at the birth of the universe, both theories break down entirely. The words and concepts each theory uses stop making sense. This failure shows that a deeper theory is needed. Some thinkers propose a radical idea. Space and time as we know them are not fundamental. They emerge from a deeper layer of reality, just as smooth water flow emerges from countless bouncing molecules. The new quest is to find what lies beneath space and time.
The two dangers in this quest
The search for this deeper layer faces two major risks. The first risk is getting lost in abstract math. Theories might become elegant on paper but lose all connection to physical intuition and real world testing. The second risk is trivial pancomputationalism. This happens when the idea of "computation" stretches so wide that every physical process counts as computing. Then the concept becomes empty. It redescribes reality without truly explaining anything. The paper uses a metaphor of bedrock and abyss. The bedrock is the solid foundation scientists seek. The abyss is the fall into these two traps.
Three ways scientists approach this problem
The paper examines three research programs as case studies. Causal Set Theory treats the universe as a set of discrete events linked by cause and effect. It takes discreteness and causality as basic starting points. It predicts that space itself comes in tiny discrete chunks. The Wolfram Physics Project uses simple computational rules to generate complex structures. Each program makes different choices about what to treat as fundamental. These choices shape what problems each program faces.
What the paper proposes
The paper argues for careful constraints to avoid both dangers. It explores how to ground ideas about computation in physically measurable phenomena. It proposes tests that could support or refute the framework. The goal is to keep the search for deeper reality tied to actual observation and testing.
What this work does not show
The paper does not prove that any specific theory of emergent spacetime is correct. It does not resolve the conflict between the two pillars of modern physics. It leaves open which research program, if any, will successfully navigate between abstract math and empty computation. The proposed framework and tests remain to be carried out. The paper also acknowledges that any complex self-referential system has built-in limits to what can be known or decided. This means a final complete theory may be impossible in principle.
Words used here
- emergent
- a property that appears in a large system but does not exist in its individual parts, like wetness emerging from water molecules
- pancomputationalism
- the view that every physical process is a kind of computation
- quantization
- the process by which a continuous quantity becomes restricted to discrete values, like money coming in whole cents rather than any amount
Learn more in plain language
- Quantum gravitySimple English Wikipedia
- Black holeSimple English Wikipedia
- Big BangWikipedia (English, more technical)
- Quantum entanglementSimple English Wikipedia
- Philosophy of scienceSimple English Wikipedia
- Digital physicsWikipedia (English, more technical)
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For specialists: the technical digest, quoted from the paper
In the paper's words
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.
The abstract, verbatim, and its opening sentence is the claim. Every line below is quoted from the text.
Numbers it reports
This represents an energy scale some 15 orders of magnitude beyond the reach of our most powerful particle accelerators.
from 3.2 The Risks of DetachmentRepresenting this space might require on the order of 10,000 logical qubits (Quni-Gudzinas, 2025a, Appendix C, Section 11.2.3.2).
from 9.2 A Roadmap for9.3.3 Compute the Cosmological Constant within 1% Error Another significant computational goal is to utilize the framework’s spectral dimension flow mechanism to compute the observed value of the cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, with a precision that matches or exceeds current cosmological measurements (Quni-Gudzinas, 2025a, Appendix C, Section 11.3.3; Quni-Gudzinas, 2025e, Part III, Chapter 8, Section 8.4.3).
from 9.39.4.1 Gravitational Wave Observatories The Einstein Telescope , an underground observatory with 10-kilometer arms and cryogenic detectors, is expected to achieve a sensitivity of 1–10 kHz.
from 9.4 ExperimentalIt aims for precision Higgs couplings (less than 1%) and Higgs self-coupling measurements (around 5%), providing critical data for the geometric derivation of Standard Model parameters (Quni-Gudzinas, 2025a, Section 6.2.4.0).
from 9.4 ExperimentalThe Astrophysical Journal , 704 (2), 1275. [10.1088/0004-637X/704/2/1275] Wolfram, S.
from 12.0 References
How it is done
Such an approach presupposes the existence of the very spacetime continuum that is now considered emergent.
from 1.2 The Paradigm ShiftA functionalist approach to spacetime posits that the identity of spacetime is not defined by its intrinsic substance or fundamental nature, but rather by the functional roles it performs.
from 2.1 The FoundationalIt posits that the fundamental structure of the universe is a causal set , which is formally defined as a discrete, locally finite, partially ordered set.
from 2.23.1.2 The Functorial Framework: Illustrating Abstraction in the Emergence Process The entire program of emergent spacetime can be formally framed as the search for a specific emergence functor , which can be designated as $F_{emergence}$.
from 3.1 The
What would falsify it
The scientific value of the Axiomatic Universe Framework is profoundly anchored in its capacity to generate precise, testable, and falsifiable predictions.
from 8.2 Falsifiable PredictionsEach prediction set targets a core tenet of the framework, transforming specific experimental and observational programs into active “proof-checkers” of its cosmic theorems.
from 8.2 Falsifiable PredictionsThese pillars are designed to be mutually reinforcing, providing a broad and robust basis for either the validation or refutation of the framework as a whole.
from 8.2 Falsifiable Predictions
Where the claim stops
A successful theory of quantum gravity cannot, therefore, simply unify the equations of the General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Field Theory.
from 1.1 The FoundationalIt must provide a new, more fundamental semantics—a pre-geometric language—from which the distinct conceptual frameworks of both theories can be recovered as valid approximations in their respective domains of applicability.
from 1.1 The FoundationalThe smooth fabric of spacetime is seen as an illusion, a coarse-grained approximation of a fundamentally discrete and non-spatiotemporal substrate.
from 1.2 The Paradigm Shift
Where to read
Read from the paper itself: 42 sections, 19,051 words. Nothing in this digest is written by a model; a line that is not a sentence of the paper is not shown. Have a specific question? Ask this paper.