Information is a fundamental constituent of reality
Information is not merely a description of physical systems but an irreducible ingredient from which physical reality is built ("it from bit").
Evidence balance
Supporting
3- Wheeler's "it from bit"w55
John A. Wheeler · 1990 · Philosophical argument
"It from bit" is the canonical statement of this view.
- Black-hole entropy is proportional to areaw55
Jacob D. Bekenstein · 1973 · Peer-reviewed
Black-hole entropy ties information to physical area.
- AdS/CFT holographic dualityw50
Juan Maldacena · 1998 · Peer-reviewed
Holographic duality is read as evidence for an information substrate.
Opposing
0None recorded.
Assumptions
Information can exist without a physical substrate
unjustified — Highly contested; arguably incoherent.
Holographic bounds reflect an information ontology
unjustified
Open questions within this hypothesis
- What carries the information if not matter/energy?
- Is this an ontology or a useful formalism?
Falsification criteria
A demonstration that information-theoretic structure is always derivative of more basic physical degrees of freedom would falsify the strong claim.