[extropy-chat] [COSMO-ASTRO] Weighing the Universe

[Dan Clemmensen]

Henrique Moraes Machado wrote:

>Since the universe is a simulation, there's no mass at all. :-)
>  
>
I know this was intended to be funny, but it is not true as stated. A 
simulation is a collection of information. Information (by definition, I 
think) requires that the information storage system is not in 
thermodynamic equilibrium, sot he storage system contains energy. but 
energy is mass. True, the information-mass of a simulation is incredibly 
tiny by comparison with the "real" mass of a "real" universe, but it is 
not zero.

For reference, Google "beckenstein bound" as a place to start. Although 
the Beckenstein bound relates to spatial information density, it should 
lead to results on information energy density also.