#conversation | #polycompute > Polycomputing in Biological Systems: Introduction of the concept that biological systems can perform multiple functions simultaneously on the same substrate. [source](https://discord.com/channels/@me/1395429805138378883/1397765705721708668) Related to [[2025-07-18]] I can't help but connect this to, "Information Density" and "Unpacking Algorithms" The substrate is informationally dense, and thus observers apply different "Unpacking Algorithms", leading to different simultaneous compute paths, from essentially the same observable. I mean we have compression algorithms but they are limited and the best require powerful processing to unpack It is space vs. time tradeoff, it always has been in computing All it does is play with space and time, embodied in memory structures and processing structures, respectively, Following from my definitions, Compute comes as the interaction of memory structures with processing structures. It is essentially a space-time interaction. Information, is the cast of order on a substance. Memory structures are spatial substances, and processing structures are temporal substances. Essentially, information, in general, is a combination of spatio-temportal patterns. Now, "Information Density" is a compact representation of these patterns that unfolds either temporally and spatially, or both and as a result produces a different compute path.