cd /news/artificial-intelligence/ask-hn-is-the-real-world-computation… · home topics artificial-intelligence article
[ARTICLE · art-129985] src=news.ycombinator.com ↗ pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Ask HN: Is the real world computational all the way down?

A Hacker News post asks whether the real world is "computational all the way down," citing Stephen Wolfram's claim that the universe is computational and Guillermo Rauch's tweet that "Everything is code." The author, who co-authored a paper on highly programmable 3D, argues that spatial intelligence in AI — including systems like Astra and Fable generating ThreeJS, Blender, or CAD objects — could eventually express everything as source code, with abilities encoded as attributes such as rig['Leg_*_Hip'].rotation = 42° or w.rotation.y = 0.42 rad. The post has 1 point and 0 comments.

by read1 min views4 publishedSep 15, 2026

Stephen Wolfram states the entire universe is computational all the way down. Guillermo Rauch recently tweeted: Everything is code.

These may be soundbites. But I've been thinking about how the take-off of spatial intelligence within AI is setting the stage for actually expressing everything as source code.

I recently co-authored a paper on highly programmable 3D. For that, I surveyed quite a bit of the field. Philosophically speaking, when I see the likes of Astra/Fable generating ThreeJS, Blender or CAD objects, I feel this expressiveness can conceivably one day eat everything.

As they improve at synthesizing higher order differentials, their ability to produce unique shapes will improve too. And because code can express form and functionality both, expressing abilities is basically just encoding attributes in the software:

  • I.e. when a leg is moved, at its core, it's something like rig['Leg_*_Hip'].rotation = 42° - When a vehicle turns, we're essentially doing something like w.rotation.y = 0.42 rad - When a jello jiggles, it's something like Σ A·e^(−λr)·e^(−decay·τ)·[(1−b) + b·cos(ωτ − kr)] · p̂
Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708962](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708962)

Points: 1

── more in #artificial-intelligence 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @stephen wolfram 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/ask-hn-is-the-real-w…] indexed:0 read:1min 2026-09-15 ·