ULTIMATE COMPUTING - Quantum Consciousness Studies

Toward Ultimate Computing 31
Figure 1.14: Self replicating automata described by Edward Fredkin (Dewdney,
1985). Computer generation by Conrad Schneiker.
Cellular automata can be ascribed to exist within a variety of environments.
Perhaps the most extreme view is that the universe is a cellular automaton. MIT’s
Edward Fredkin has been contending that the universe may work according to the
same principles as a cellular automaton (Wright, 1985). He believes the basic
material of which everything is made of can be considered as information rather
than mass and energy. Working at the interface of physics and computer science,
Fredkin has become intrigued with the relations between cellular automata and
nature. With the right rules, a cellular automaton can simulate the formation of a
snowflake, mollusc shell, or galaxy. Fredkin’s view is to apply cellular automata
to fundamental levels of physics and the rules needed to model the motion of
molecules, atoms, electrons, and quarks. With sufficient information to model
these particles, an automaton may be designed that describes the physical world
with perfect precision. At that level, says Fredkin, the universe is a cellular
automatonin three dimensions: a lattice of interacting logic units, each one
deciding billions of times per second whether it will be “off or on” at the next
instant. Fredkin sees this information as the fabric of reality, the stuff from which
matter and energy are made. He argues that cellular automata can represent the
universe as usefully as can differential equations, the prevalent mathematical
alternative. The cellular automaton view is by far the simpler. A child can
understand the rules governing a cellular automaton and with pencil, paper and
enough time can predict the course of an automaton including charting the growth