In order to figure out how to make atoms compute, you have to learn how to speak their language and to understand how they process information under normal circumstances.
Seth LloydRead
All physical systems can be thought of as registering and processing information, and how one wishes to define computation will determine your view of what computation consists of.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Computation is a fundamental aspect of all physical systems, shaped by our definitions of it.
Seth Lloyd's quote emphasizes that computation is not just confined to computers but is a concept that applies to all physical systems around us. The way we define and understand computation influences our perspectives on information processing in nature, suggesting a deeper connection between physical reality and computational theory.
Themes
ComputationInformationSystemsProcessingDefinition
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the nature of computation and physics, one can use this quote to illustrate the interconnectedness of the two fields.
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All quotes →We have a picture for how complexity arises, because if the universe is computationally capable, maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that things are so entirely out of control.
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The history of the universe is, in effect, a huge and ongoing quantum computation. The universe is a quantum computer.
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