The idea of digital data increasing the mass of the world is an interesting one, but it is not something that is widely accepted in the scientific community. The concept of mass is generally defined as the amount of matter in an object or system, and it is measured in units of weight such as kilograms or pounds. Digital data, on the other hand, is a non-physical entity that is stored and transmitted electronically, and it does not have any physical mass.
One argument that could be made is that the storage devices used to hold digital data, such as hard drives and servers, do have mass and therefore the data stored on them would contribute to the overall mass of the world. However, the mass of these storage devices is relatively insignificant compared to the total mass of the Earth. Additionally, the data stored on these devices can be deleted or transferred to other storage devices without affecting the mass of the world.
Another argument that could be made is that the energy required to store and transmit digital data could contribute to the mass of the world. The energy used to power servers, transmit data over networks, and run data centers is generated through the burning of fossil fuels, which releases mass in the form of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. However, the mass of these emissions is also relatively insignificant compared to the total mass of the Earth.
It’s also worth mentioning that information theory holds that the entropy of a system increases when the amount of information stored within a system increases. In the case of digital data, the entropy of the system increases as the amount of digital data stored within it increases. However, the entropy of a system is not directly related to its mass, so this doesn’t indicate that the mass of the world would change as the amount of digital data increases.
To summarize, while the concept of digital data increasing the world’s mass is appealing, it is not substantiated by scientific facts. Digital data is a non-physical entity that lacks physical mass. The mass of the storage devices used to hold digital data is small in comparison to the entire mass of the Earth, and the data stored on them may be destroyed or transferred without changing the world’s mass. Furthermore, the energy consumed to store and transmit digital data has little impact on the global population. The relationship between digital data and mass is not simple, and further research is needed to better comprehend it.