"The bottom line regarding normality is that the burden of proof is surely on those who would maintain that the formal machinery of digital physics is in princi

"The bottom line regarding normality is that the burden of proof is surely on those who would maintain that the formal machinery of digital physics is in principle insufficient to model something as straightforward as submerging nails in, and retrieving them from, a bucket of soapy water." I think the idea of alternate physical systems doing computation is really fun. I personally have a throbbing heart-on for cellular automata, specifically Rule 110 and inspired by Greg Egan's "Permutation City". But that's SF. But that's just emotional attachment.