The Universe’s Blueprint: Seven Easy Lines that Square the Cosmic Circle
(inspired by Lex Friedman, MIT)
"Humans are an API to ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is an API to Python.
Python is an API to C.
C is an API to assembly.
Assembly is an API to binary.
Binary is an API to physics.
Physics is an API to the machine that runs the universe.
—It's computation all the way down."
It looks simple, but hidden in it is the whole architecture of existence — from you, to physics, to the machine that runs the universe. Let’s take it step by step.
1. Humans are an API to ChatGPT.
Think of an API (Application Programming Interface) as a “translator” between two worlds. You talk to ChatGPT in English. That’s your “API call.” ChatGPT responds with language you can understand.
➡️ Example: You ask, “Write me a love poem about pizza.” That’s you calling the API. ChatGPT translates your messy thought into structured output.
Takeaway: You are the bridge that turns your thoughts into prompts.
2. ChatGPT is an API to Python.
Behind the scenes, ChatGPT doesn’t “think” like we do. It runs on Python, the programming language of data science, AI, and automation.
➡️ Example: When you say “make a graph of climate change,” ChatGPT is basically whispering in Python to generate that chart.
Takeaway: ChatGPT’s magic is just polished translation into code.
3. Python is an API to C.
Python feels easy for humans — simple syntax, readable words. But under the hood, Python usually calls C (a much older, faster, lower-level language) to do the heavy lifting.
➡️ Example: NumPy, the Python math library, is really C code in disguise. When you type np.add(2,3), it’s C doing the adding at lightning speed.
Takeaway: Python is the friendly face; C is the muscle.
4. C is an API to assembly.
C still feels “human-readable.” Assembly language is where you drop down into machine operations — move data from here to there, add these bits, jump to this instruction.
➡️ Example: When your phone calculates 3 + 4, there’s a tiny assembly program running like:
LOAD 3 ADD 4 STORE result
Takeaway: C is like English; assembly is caveman grunts, but direct.
5. Assembly is an API to binary.
Assembly is still symbols. Binary is pure 0s and 1s. That’s what the CPU actually flips on and off.
➡️ Example: The instruction ADD 4 might look like 10010110. It’s ugly, but it’s the machine’s heartbeat.
Takeaway: Binary is the first language your laptop truly speaks.
6. Binary is an API to physics.
Why does 1 mean “on” and 0 mean “off”? Because physics. Transistors — the microscopic switches in your chip — literally use electrons to represent 1s and 0s.
➡️ Example: Billions of transistors in your phone are flipping billions of times a second, turning voltages into digital thought.
Takeaway: At this layer, math meets matter.
7. Physics is an API to the machine that runs the universe.
This is the ultimate mystery. Physics — particles, waves, fields — is the rulebook. But what runs the rulebook?
➡️ Example: String theory says tiny vibrating strings. Quantum mechanics says probabilities collapsing into reality. Religious traditions call it “God.” Philosophers call it “Being.”
Takeaway: Physics is itself an interface to… something deeper.
🌀 The Big Picture
It’s computation all the way down.
From your brain, to ChatGPT, to the electrons in silicon, to the laws of the cosmos.
Every layer is an API — a bridge. And every bridge reminds us: the universe is not random chaos. It’s structured translation.
So when you talk to ChatGPT, you’re not just chatting. You’re brushing your hand against the machinery of the universe.
TL;DR: The provided text, "The Universe’s Blueprint: Seven Easy Lines that Square the Cosmic Circle," proposes a hierarchical structure of existence, illustrating that everything operates as an Application Programming Interface (API). Beginning with humans as an API to ChatGPT, the article systematically breaks down the layers of computation, moving from high-level languages like Python to lower-level ones like C, and further to assembly and binary code. Ultimately, it suggests that binary is an API to physics, where physical laws govern the operation of fundamental elements like transistors, concluding that physics itself functions as an API to an even deeper, unknown "machine that runs the universe." This framework emphasizes that existence, from our thoughts to the cosmos, is a continuum of structured translation, where each level acts as a bridge to the next, implying a universe built upon intricate computational interactions.