Essay Abstract

This essay addresses the question "Is reality digital or analog?" by: a) considering a range of possible realities and Universes b) proposing a hypothetical Universe, based on a fundamental physical unit which has a combination of digital and analog characteristics c) reviewing issues relating to possible pure digital and pure analog Universes d) proposing an answer to the essay question, within this framework.

Author Bio

Paul Alexander has an Honours Degree in Science (Statistics). Paul's Honours thesis reviewed the calculus of discrete vs continuous solutions to mathematical expressions for the "Law of Large Numbers".

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Hello Paul. A quick look at your paper prompts this response: Your vision of a Universe made up of s-points is compelling. I like the idea of small irregularities evolving to form permanent features - an evolutionary interactive approach on the most basic level of a universal fabric is sound. Is it necessary though to invoke the concept of a random foam? This idea of course relates to quantum probability and randomness of the wave function. In general, of course, the devil, as they say, is in the details, in how exactly the s-points interact.

My own Beautiful Universe Theory (BU) and the essay posted here in this contest, have similarities to your ideas. The s-points correspond to my dielectric nodes, but I have avoided probabilistic ideas or even Einstein's Relativity, but tried to rebuild things from scratch. Not very convincingly so far but I tried! I am hoping to do some basic simulation of some aspects of the (BU) interactions, but it is not so easy for me and there are many interrelated phenomena in Nature to choose from. Cheers! Vladimir

9 days later

Hi Paul, how about the imagery of an Archimedes screw which has both particle and wave properties? Would this be a contender for the visualisation of the fundamental particles?