Information

If one were to ask the purpose of existence, or at least the function of everything, it would seem that the logical conclusion would be the creation and storage of information. This instantly spawns many wonderful questions. Would a universe with no information be better or worse than a universe with some? Is there a maximum or optimal amount of information in the universe? Could a universe with no information exist? How much information does the universe contain?

Nothing

A universe that was perfectly uniform would contain no information. Would this be different from no universe at all? Is it possible to have something that exists that contains zero information? It would seem that its existence relative to non-existence would be the only information it contains, which is almost like cheating!

Everything

Conversely, what if a universe contained infinite information; all things. Every possibility would exist. Would each possibility exist homogeneously? If so, and if all information is present and of equal importance, would it convey anything, or be as uninformative as nothing? If the topology of everything contained the same things, but in a different order, then would it be the same? Probably not, which seems to discount the possibility of infinity all together. Topology itself can't be infinite, it has to have a certain shape. A topology such as a Mandelbrot Set, for example, can have aspects of infinity (all mathematical descriptions of geometry do) but a thing cannot be all topolgies; at that point topology ceases to exist.

Would a homogeneous universe containing an infinite quantity of information be functionally identical to no universe? I suspect so.

What if we could only access some of the information, limited by location, for example? What isn't accessible couldn't count as real if was the same as not being there at all. Would the information closest to us be more important, by function of being more dynamic?

What if an infinite amount of information was present, but it was not homogeneous, that some areas were more dense in informational content than others, then could this still contain infinite amount of information, every possibility? Presumably, the information would only be accessible locally somehow, as to be able to access it all would eliminate any variation in information density.

Besides, the very notion of accessing information means that you'd have to be capable of taking it in and understanding it. Perhaps things are becoming too local and relative, but then, things must be in a spatial environment. Information isn't an independently stored object, but a communication between entities. Perhaps then, it is the communication aspect that is the most crucial. The possibilities of knowledge might be infinite, but actual reality, and knowledge, demands communication. If this applies to the knowledge of how the universe operates, its laws, which seems probable, then these are destined to be forever unknowable in entirety.

Mark Sheeky, 9 January 2018