Cristi,
What a truly excellent essay! I will be very surprised and disappointed if you are not a winner. I may later argue a point or two but I simply want to congratulate you on a job well done.
With respect to Smolin's treatment of laws versus Wheeler's treatment, I think Smolin says it best that "If everything that is real is real in a moment, then the distinction between laws and states must be a relative one."
You've stated, "If one believes that there are things that are not included in the mathematical model of the universe, one should describe these things." That is sort of a 'trick question'. If something can be described in words, one can make a mathematical model of some sort. I agree with Smolin that "There are aspects of the real universe that will never be representable in mathematics."
Your Yin-Yang diagram is probably the best way the it/bit question can be answered!
A job well done.
Best,
Edwin Eugene Klingman