Uniqueness of the Right Formal Description for a Given Object or Process

Determine whether, for any given object or process, there exists a uniquely right formal description among the multiple possible formal descriptions available.

Background

In Section 4, the author examines a weaker, explanatory version of pancomputationalism that would claim any process is formally describable and hence amenable to computational treatment. This perspective faces the challenge that many different formal descriptions can represent the same object or process.

The author notes that it is not clear whether one among these formal descriptions should be singled out as the uniquely correct one, highlighting a fundamental underdetermination problem discussed in the literature (e.g., Putnam 1980). This uncertainty raises a core issue for attempts to provide a complete computational description of natural processes.