Ed Fredkin and the Foundations of Digital Philosophy: The Universe as Computation
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/05/14
Ed Fredkin (1934-2023), deceased MIT Professor and Caltech Fairchild Distinguished Scholar, can be attributed as one of the founders of Digital Philosophy. Others include Konrad Zuse and Stephen Wolfram. It is an interdisciplinary endeavour between computer science, physics, and philosophy, fundamentally grounded on computation. Universe operates as a computational system. Fredkin believed all physical processes are derivable from data processing, hence digital physics rather than physics.
Fredkin worked on computer vision, business ventures, and chess programming. Digital Philosophy sees the universe as digital. A set of pancomputationalism and digital physics. Both are distinct, but relate to one another. A discrete finite system run by rules on computation. Fredkin conjectures: All manifest energy, matter, space, and time, are bits.
Fredkin believe in no infinites, no continuities. A universe integer-grounded and finite. The evolution of the physical processes happens as transformations from state to state is the hypothesis of Fredkin. Each state as a whole slice of the cosmic worldline. Disputable early orientations include determinism, reductionism, and mechanism.
The universe functions with each next state following from prior states. Complex phenomena are emergent phenomena from simpler fundaments. Reality as a mechanism operable as a machine with predictable rules.
Fredkin supported the ideas with reversible computing and cellular automata. He stated:
Digital mechanics predicts that for every continuous symmetry of physics there will be some microscopic process that violates that symmetry.
And:
The appearance of a single truly random event is absolutely incompatible with a strong law of conservation of information.
Cellular automata come in a variety. The one developed by Fredkin was called the SALT (Six-state Asynchronous Logic Tiling) family of cellular automata. These are reversible automata capable of ‘universal computation.’ These models simulate digital rules.
He invented the Fredkin gate, able to perform computations without losing energy. Some of energy-efficient computing is based on this. This has implications for contemporary and upcoming artificial intelligence systems.
He proposed, in a manner within these developments, the finitude of the natural order. Fredkin asserted the universe is a giant automaton with the possibility of quantum phenomena emergent from digital processes too. Philosophy of physics, in this developmental trend, can be interpreted as philosophy of digital physics.
When made practical, we unite the Digital Philosophy into digital physics. One deals with concepts, relations, and theories, and the other with operations, functions, and applications.
Reversible computing has arrived and advanced, particularly in reduction of energy waste per compute. The Vaire Computing chip achieved a many-fold increase in energy efficiency. A possible direct developmental inspiration from the conceptual framework of Fredkin’s work, so from digital philosophy into digital physics.
Some critiques exist of the ideas despite the practical applications and consistency with contemporary ideas of computation and information:
- If all is computation, the idea is too broad, so meaningless.
- It needs more empirical support, so it has reduced scientific credibility.
- Discrete models are inconsistent with continuous models of quantum mechanics or relativity.
- Some see the ideas as naive while others question validity due to Fredkin’s computational background.
His ideas left a lasting mark on modern physics and Digital Philosophy continues to impact facets of computation, physics, and philosophy. Others existed in this space and others are extant.
The developments of digital physics continue.
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