> Finite Nature is the assumption that, at some scale, space and time are discrete and that the number of possible states of every finite volume of space-time is finite. In other words Finite Nature assumes that there is no thing that is smooth or continuous and that there are no infinitesimals.
First found out about this from this passage in God Emperor of Dune:
She spoke abruptly: “Do you have a personal religion?”
He took a moment composing his reply. It always astonished him how a desert provoked thoughts of religion.
“You dare ask me if I have a personal religion?” he demanded.
Betraying no surface sign of the fears he knew she felt, Siona turned and stared down at him. Audacity was always an Atreides hallmark, he reminded himself.
When she didn’t answer, he said: “You are an Atreides for sure.”
“Is that your answer?” she asked.
“What is it you really want to know, Siona?”
“What you believe!”
“Ho! You ask after my faith. Well, now—I believe that something cannot emerge from nothing without divine intervention.”
His answer puzzled her. “How is that an...”
“Natura non facit saltus,” he said.
She shook her head, not understanding the ancient allusion which had sprung to his lips. He translated:
“Nature makes no leaps.”
“What language was that?” she asked.
“A language no longer spoken anywhere else in my universe.”
“Why did you use it then?”
“To prod your ancient memories.”
“I don’t have any! I just need to know why you brought me here.”
“To give you a taste of your past. Come down here and climb onto my back.”
> A growing number of theorists explore the possibility that space is not continuous, but rather discrete at the smallest scales.
> This discreteness hypothesis implies that given two different points in space, there is no continuous curve (a world line) joining them.
Quantum mechanics, non-locality, and the space discreteness hypothesis - https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14836
> Finite Nature is the assumption that, at some scale, space and time are discrete and that the number of possible states of every finite volume of space-time is finite. In other words Finite Nature assumes that there is no thing that is smooth or continuous and that there are no infinitesimals.
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/im/ftp/poc/fredkin/Finite-Nat...
https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/08/remembering-the-...
First found out about this from this passage in God Emperor of Dune:
She spoke abruptly: “Do you have a personal religion?”
He took a moment composing his reply. It always astonished him how a desert provoked thoughts of religion.
“You dare ask me if I have a personal religion?” he demanded.
Betraying no surface sign of the fears he knew she felt, Siona turned and stared down at him. Audacity was always an Atreides hallmark, he reminded himself.
When she didn’t answer, he said: “You are an Atreides for sure.”
“Is that your answer?” she asked.
“What is it you really want to know, Siona?”
“What you believe!”
“Ho! You ask after my faith. Well, now—I believe that something cannot emerge from nothing without divine intervention.”
His answer puzzled her. “How is that an...”
“Natura non facit saltus,” he said.
She shook her head, not understanding the ancient allusion which had sprung to his lips. He translated:
“Nature makes no leaps.”
“What language was that?” she asked.
“A language no longer spoken anywhere else in my universe.”
“Why did you use it then?”
“To prod your ancient memories.”
“I don’t have any! I just need to know why you brought me here.”
“To give you a taste of your past. Come down here and climb onto my back.”