“What we call the past is built on bits.” —John A. Wheeler
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE CODE...
W
hen molecular biologists talk about genetic code or sociologists talk about cultural memes as epigenetic information, it’s by far more intuitive than when physicists say that what we perceive as solid matter, energy, and even space-time continuum itself is information as well. Morse code, a streaming movie on-demand, or pixels on your smartphone’s screen could be easily understood as information, on the other hand, if you catch a cold or fall in love with someone, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with information. But contrary to popular belief, that’s the worldview many physicists are now embracing.
