Is Life a Form of Computation?
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
thereader.mitpress.mit.eduResearchstory
calmneutral
Debate
20/100
ComputationPhilosophy of LifeComplex Systems
Key topics
Computation
Philosophy of Life
Complex Systems
The article 'Is Life a Form of Computation?' explores the idea that life can be viewed as a computational process, sparking discussion on the implications and limitations of this perspective.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
18s
Peak period
5
0-1h
Avg / period
3.5
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM EDT
18s after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
5 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45338299Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 1:08:20 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Computation is vectors, vectors are information, intelligence is the determinant resolve of information.
That all fits.
Life is something else.
Further, it may be more honest to say life is a technology of consciousness (inflection upon the potential of existential being) rather than the other way around.
Life is something different than computation, however computation may shape the technology of life.
It is not. Classic computation is addressing. Addressing can be done with sort
Update: von neumann
these assemblages interact according to rule pairing.
these "rules" are naturaly emergent physical constraints on the spectrum of equilibrially driven interactions. add some thermokinetic motion, and you have a multi agent system, expressing rules between each other, cyclicly.
this results in a persistent central tendency of physical outcome based on rule pairing.
this is more like geometric progression, than computation.