On the Algorithmic Nature of the World

We propose a test based on the theory of algorithmic complexity and an experimental evaluation of Levin's universal distribution to identify evidence in support of or in contravention of the claim that the world is algorithmic in nature. To this end we have undertaken a statistical comparison of the frequency distributions of data from physical sources on the one hand--repositories of information such as images, data stored in a hard drive, computer programs and DNA sequences--and the frequency distributions generated by purely algorithmic means on the other--by running abstract computing devices such as Turing machines, cellular automata and Post Tag systems. Statistical correlations were found and their significance measured.

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Author Zenil, Hector, Delahaye, Jean-Paul
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 14, 2026, 06:41 (UTC)
Created May 14, 2026, 06:41 (UTC)
Identifier halshs-00792117
Language en
contributor Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST) ; Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Département d'Etudes Cognitives - ENS-PSL (DEC) ; École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Zenil, Hector
date 2010-05-14T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 3a90f07c-73ff-456c-a4a4-de6da312184d
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2024-12-09T00:00:00
set_spec type:COUV