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In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and
historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the
foundations of information and address the related question of the
limits to our knowledge of the world. Over recent decades, our
practical approach to information and its exploitation has
radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree
that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is
exactly fields such as quantum information, which are shifting the
boundaries of the physically possible, that make a foundational
understanding of information increasingly important. One of the
recurring themes of the book is the claim by Eddington and Wheeler
that information involves interaction and putting agents or
observers centre stage. Thus, physical reality, in their view, is
shaped by the questions we choose to put to it and is built up from
the information residing at its core. This is the root of Wheeler's
famous phrase "it from bit." After reading the stimulating essays
collected in this volume, readers will be in a good position to
decide whether they agree with this view.
In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and
historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the
foundations of information and address the related question of the
limits to our knowledge of the world. Over recent decades, our
practical approach to information and its exploitation has
radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree
that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is
exactly fields such as quantum information, which are shifting the
boundaries of the physically possible, that make a foundational
understanding of information increasingly important. One of the
recurring themes of the book is the claim by Eddington and Wheeler
that information involves interaction and putting agents or
observers centre stage. Thus, physical reality, in their view, is
shaped by the questions we choose to put to it and is built up from
the information residing at its core. This is the root of Wheeler's
famous phrase "it from bit." After reading the stimulating essays
collected in this volume, readers will be in a good position to
decide whether they agree with this view.
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