“The past is the thing that hasn’t yet happened.”
In this paper I explore the idea that the laws of nature are emergent from “information”. This is not a new idea. It’s been argued that physics is described by equations that can be computed and therefore everything can be reduced to information in a computer. In other words we live in a simulation or the matrix. In this paper I’m not using this line of reasoning. Instead, I’m going to start by examining the properties of rudimentary information systems and see where that leads.
The information systems I will examine in this paper are images made up of black and white pixels. These images will represent our imaginary universe so I will use the term system and universe interchangeably. Let’s start with a universe made up of all white pixels represented by the image shown below.
Because every pixel is the same, we need a minimum amount of memory to store the information for this system. Also note that this system has no disorder, therefore we can say that this system has minimal entropy.
Now let’s look at another system.
This system (pictured above) is completely random. If you wanted to remember this arrangement of black and white pixels, you would have to memorized all of them. That is why completly random systems are said to contain the maximum amount of information for their size. Also, this system is completely disordered, therefore it has maximum entropy.
OK so let’s begin our thought experiment by asking a question about this “maximum information” system or universe. The question is, “how could this completely random, maximum information, universe come to exist?”
Well, a maximum information universe cannot exist in isolation – each pixel must emerge randomly from a potential state. This means the system must first be in state where each pixel has the ability to be either black or white. In other words, each pixel is both black and white or a state of superposition. Then to bring our maximum information universe into existence, we let each pixel or coordinate randomly settle into a final state of black or white.
A. A system with each pixel in an uncertain superposition state must exist.
B. Each pixel is allowed to randomly settle into a final state of black or white.
In summary, in order for a completely random, maximum information system with maximum entropy to exist we first need another system to exist where each coordinate exists in an undetermined potential state.
So this thought experiment has yielded three interesting concepts. First, completely random systems require two systems sequentially ordered. Note that this is similar to how we experience the phenomenon of time – with a before and after. Second, we need these two systems to be arranged in a specific order. This is similar to what we experience as the arrow of time which moves forward from the past. And third, the final system is built upon a system that exists in an “undetermined state”. This is how quantum theory describes our universe – particles are not located until they are observed.
So, without any mathematical equations, and starting with purely fundamental ideas about simple information systems, this thought experiment has yielded characteristics reminiscent of time, the arrow of time and quantum mechanical behavior.
This is intriguing to me. This line of thinking was available to anyone living prior to the advent of modern technology and the discoveries of modern physics. With this logic, Greek philosophers could have developed ideas about quantum physics and even predicted behaviors we now observe in the lab such as outcomes recorded in the double slit experiment.
Also note that if this truly does predict observed phenomena, it qualifies as a scientific theory. Furthermore if this explains why there is an arrow of time, it has achieved something modern physics hasn’t been able to explain.
Nevertheless, let’s proceed and consider the system shown below.
This system has an arrangement of pixels that seem to “not” be random. There seems to be an imposed, purposeful order because it takes on the appearance of a clock. And we know a system that has some order, or predictability, is a system that has less information than the completely random system shown below…
and more information than the completely uniform system shown below…
In other words, storage-wise, an ordered system with “some information” sits in between a minimum information system and a maximum information system.
So let’s start with this question, “is the universe pictured above that looks like a clock, an ordered system?”
Well we know it’s not a minimum information system because it has some black pixels and some white pixels – it’s not all white or all black. But how do we know that it’s not a completely random, maximum information system? Well the answer is, “by just looking at the system in isolation, we don’t know that it’s not a purely random system.”
If you generate an infinite number of purely random systems, one of those systems will eventually be arranged in this exact configuration of black and white pixels that just happens to look like the image of the clock shown above.
So the thought experiment question is, “how can an ordered universe with some information (not maximum), come to exist?”
Well in order for any ordered system to exist, the “next state” system must exist. So let’s look at how this works. If the “next state” system is represented by the image shown below…
…then we can’t conclude that the system that looked like a clock was an ordered system. It might have been a random, maximum information system that just happened to look like a clock. However, if the next state system is this image…
…then we have a high confidence that it is not a maximum, fully random, information system. Given the unlikelihood of two sequential, random systems taking on the appearance of a working clock, we can be highly confident that it is an ordered system. In fact this is how an ordered universe with some information comes into existence.
A. A system with each pixel in an uncertain, potential state exists.
B. Each pixel then settles into a final state of black or white in an arrangement that conveys the order of that system.
C. A system that conveys the next state order exists and is ultimately experienced.
This is how an ordered system with some information comes into existence. Every ordered universe with some information requires a past undetermined state, a current ordered state and a next state that is ultimately experienced. Remember, without the next state system, there’s no way to know if the current state system is ordered or completely random. Also something to note is that the next state system doesn’t not need to exist “after” the current state system, it just needs to be ultimately experienced. This is compatible with and maybe even predicts concepts associated with the block universe theory. Given Einstein’s theory of relativity leads to the idea that you can slice the block universe at a diagonal – this might be how relativity emerges from information.
So in summary an ordered information system requires the existence of a next state system. In our vernacular, it needs a future.
And again, without any mathematical equations, this thought experiment has predicted that in order for an ordered universe to exist there must be an “uncertainty principle” based past, there must be an arrow of time, and there must exist a next state that is ultimately experienced.
Again, we are led to the conclusion that “information” is somehow a fundamental property, from which time, quantum behavior and some aspects of relativity emerge. And as I said, because this predicts phenomena we observe in the real world, this qualifies as a scientific theory. And because it explains the arrow of time, it has some advantages over modern physics.
One more thing. It’s interesting to ponder this idea from the point of view of time travel. This model of the universe says that while we experience the future as a next state system, it can already exist. Our real world experience and the theory of relativity does show this to be true. However the model says that the “past” is in an undetermined, potential state – so time travel there would land you in the quantum realm. So strangely enough, this theory say that “the past is the thing that hasn’t yet happened.”
OK that’s my thought experiment. Of course the next thing we would want to further explore is where this line of reasoning leads to concepts about space and time and black holes. Maybe dark matter and energy are rolled up in these ideas. I like to take these concepts in small steps given I don’t have a lot of time and I’m not a physicist – it’s highly likely that this is all nonsensical 🙂
Side Note: In this paper I make the claim that observed phenomena such as time, quantum mechanics and relativity emerge from looking at how pure information systems systems come to exist. The problem with this claim is that I am most likely employing a cognitive bias. I already know about time, quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of relativity, so I’m most likely seeing a pattern with which I’m already familiar. So the best test is to have the theory predict something I don’t know about or better yet, some new phenomena. I’ll ponder this but I just wanted to put this out there.
Anyway – here are some other random observations I have made regarding this “information model” theory. I will continuously add to these as ideas occur to me but I have not fleshed these out – they are just notes for possible future posts…
1. This may explain why entropy always increases which is also unexplained and not predicted by modern physics. The Big Bang theory says that our universe started from a singularity. Well this is reminiscent of the minimum information universe pictured below. Like a singularity it has minimal entropy, is homogeneous and does not have a past or a future – it can exist in isolation.
… and measurements of the cosmological constant predict that our universe is expanding and will ultimately end (no future required) as a completely random system with no order and maximum entropy…
… therefore our universe is moving from minimum entropy to maximum entropy. To get there, the entropy of the entire system must continuously increase.
2. Maybe this idea explains why there is something rather than nothing. A system that results in nothing does not require a past state and does not require a future state. But we occupy a universe from which time has emerged, with a past, present and future. And our universe has information, and is not a zero information system. Our universe is also not homogeneous. It’s not a completely random system where there would be no clumping of matter into stars and galaxies.
3. One question this raises is, “if the current, ordered state can only exist if there’s an ultimately experienced ordered next state, then when we experience this next state – isn’t its past the previously experienced ordered state, and not an undetermined state?” The answer is, “no” if we strictly adhere to what the “information model” is telling us. It’s telling us that the current state universe or system always evolves from an undetermined state system while also having an already existing next state system that is ultimately experienced. While this seems puzzling and counterintuitive, we have to throw out intuition if we want to figure out what’s really going on. In fact this view of reality seems to fortify the concept of relativity. Our current reality is explainable only in terms of the current state ordered system. Everything else, including the undetermined previous state and the ordered next state, exists “relatively” to the current state. So scientific analysis of the so called future and past can only be done “relative” to the current ordered state reference frame. Relativity and quantum behavior both seem to easily emerge from this model.
4. What does this theory say about free will? Well, it makes sense that we believe we have free will while at the same time scientific exploration tells us we don’t. Maybe we perceive we have free will because at some level we are aware that the current ordered state evolved from an undetermined state. So the present is created from an infinite possibility state. But since the future ordered state already exists, in a way, the future is predetermined. This could explain why there is a free will paradox.
5. What does this Idea say about consciousness? If consciousness is not the byproduct of computational power, and therefore emergent from something non computational, then maybe it can be analyzed from this point of view. Sir Roger Penrose discusses this on his book The Emperor’s New Mind. In this book Penrose proposes that quantum effects may give rise to consciousness.