Computation as Organisation

TL;DR

This paper redefines computation as a property of organised matter characterized by persistent relational constraints, emphasizing the role of organisation over symbolic content, and offers criteria for identifying computation in physical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework that conceptualizes computation as organisation-based relational invariance, applicable to living and physical systems beyond traditional symbolic models.

Findings

Computation is linked to the persistence of relational constraints in organised matter.

Information is viewed as relational invariance, not content.

Computational limits are derived from organisational properties.

Abstract

Computation is commonly defined as the execution of abstract algorithms over symbolic representations, with physical systems treated as substrates that realise predefined operations. While effective for engineered machines, this separation becomes problematic when applied to living systems, where persistence, adaptation, and failure occur without symbolic instruction or central control. Here, computation is reformulated as a structural property of organised matter. Organisation is defined as the persistence of relational constraints that delimit admissible state transitions. Information is not encoded content but relational invariance: differences that influence future behaviour by reshaping what transitions remain possible. Computation is identified with the ongoing enactment of such organisation, integrating memory, processing, and execution as inseparable aspects of material dynamics. Within this framework, algorithms correspond to internally embedded regularities enabled by constraint, and computational limits arise from organisation itself. The account provides experimentally accessible criteria for computation based on persistence, recovery, and structural failure under perturbation.