Wolfram Physics Q&A

The model implies that there is a definite computational rule that determines every aspect of what happens in our universe. If the universe is to be considered a “simulation” this would suggest that the rule is being determined by something outside the system, and presumably in an “intentional” way. It is difficult enough to extend the notion of intentionality far beyond the specifics of what humans do, making it unrealistic to attribute it to something beyond even the universe. In addition, the concept of rule-space relativity implies that in a sense all possible rules are equivalent, at least to an appropriate observer, and therefore there would be nothing for an entity setting up the simulation to “intentionally decide”—since any rule they could choose would appear to be the same universe to observers embedded within it.