Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
It from Bit — Wheeler's late-career thesis that physical reality (the "It") emerges from informational binary distinctions (the "Bit")
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Time · Grain | Discrete |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Space · Curvature | Curved |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Non-local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Non-local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Space Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Cosmic-ordering |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
Time emerges from informational structure.
Space
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
Space emerges from informational distinctions.
Matter
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
Material reality emergent from binary informational structure.
Observer
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
The observer as universal participator — asking yes-no questions of reality.
Energy
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
Energy as one of the emergent physical quantities.
Information
It from Bit / Information, Physics, Quantum
Information as the fundamental ontological category.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Wheeler's framework has been controversial — whether information is genuinely fundamental, or whether the framework reduces to a particular interpretation of quantum mechanics, has been continuously debated.