Episode 96 - About the philosophy of realism and the pinnacle of all realism claims: the Church-Turing-Deutsch thesis

The Church-Turing-Deutsch thesis: Every physical process can be simulated, to arbitrary precision, by a universal computing device. This claim seems to be the pinnacle claim of all realist claims, I go into it's various consequences for realism There is a reality out there - actually 1 reality We can create knowledge about that reality That knowledge is not only descriptive but also explanatory (given that a computer program is an explanation) Our knowledge can grow, matching reality eventually to arbitrary precision Reality is deterministic Physical processes are equivalent to computations. Computations cause physical stuff to move. So computations have causal power. So there are 2 types of causation : the laws of physics and knowledge (computer programs) Given that our brains are Turing machines we are universal computers: we can understand everything once given the program Given that there are no barriers to evolving our algorithms and create knowledge, we are also universal explainers: we can discover all theories that match reality to arbitrary precision If morality and aesthetics involve physical processes (like suffering in morality or attraction in aesthetics) then we can objectively simulate morality and aesthetics as well. Making them also fields of objective knowledge, independent of our minds So if you a "real realist", say you endores the CTD thesis ;-)