$10,000 question: Is reality digital or analog?

Is everything like "The Matrix" or is "The Matrix" like everything?

 

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Analog defines reality with continuous functions. Digital is an approximation to analog, compressing the continuous functions of analogs, so computer can do more, faster. As a contract, if we took a picture with the best film camera, the raw images would be analogous to analog. To use these images with computers, we would compress the image into JPEG, for example, so the amount of data is less so the data can move faster in the computer. As computers get faster and memory gets cheaper, digital will slowly return toward analog allowing the full raw analog images of reality be used for reality.

We live in 3-D reality, with height, width and depth. Computer can generate 3-D approximations of 3-D reality on a flat computer monitor. This approximation is not exactly 3-D, since one can touch the monitor screen, and notice there is no real depth. It is an illusion. But this digital illusion is a good approximation of 3-D, allowing commuters to do more with the representation. Eventually we will have holograms that can project real 3-D in the middle of the floor. But again this is still an approximation to analog reality, since reality needs the sense of touch to feel textures. We don't just look at textures in reality but often want to touch and smell the roses.

The cultural misconception is due to a language game, where digital sounds more impressive since digital is modern while analog seems old fashion. The old timers were not trying to cater to computer but were attempting to define reality as it was. In modern culture, the digital analogy has been extrapolated to where words become approximation for reality but assumed to be higher. For example, the term hate speech does not even have to involve the emotion of hate in the speaker, since the approximation to reality, is assume to be as good as the reality. But the human brain is not under the same limits as computers and can handle the more completeness of analog so it can see the difference.

This trend appears to be based on modern education. This is where you know less so you can move the data faster. This has to due with memorize and repeat, instead of an interaction of extended elements; critical thinking.

 

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