You like Stephen Wolfram, right?
I mean, if he’s to be believed, he has reinvented physics, not to mention philosophy.
How could you not like such a thinker?
Well… it turns out that there are plenty of people who don’t like Stephen Wolfram… or his physics… or his philosophy.
Here are four criticisms of Stephen Wolfram I regularly hear…
…and here’s why these criticisms, though they hint at uncomfortable truths, nonetheless miss the mark.
Stephen Wolfram is a physicist, mathematician, and programmer who believes he has discovered the computational rules that organize the universe at the finest grain. These rules are not physical rules like the equations of state or Maxwell’s equations. According to Wolfram, these are rules that govern how the universe evolves and operates at a level at least one step down below the reality that we inhabit. His computational principles are inspired by the results observed in cellular automata systems, which show that it’s possible to take a very simple system, with very simple rules, and end up at complex patterns that often look organic and always look far more intricate than the black and white squares that the game started with. He believes that the hyperspace relationships that emerge when he applies a computational rule over and over again represent the nature of the universe — and that the relationships that emerge contain everything from the seed of human experience to the equations for relativity, evolution, and black holes. We sit down with him for a conversation about the platonic endeavor that he has undertaken, where to draw the line between lived experience and the computational universe, the limits of physics, and the value of purpose and the source of consciousness.
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PARADIGM DRIFT
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00:00 Go!
In previous episodes, I’ve been simulating Wolfram Physics using graphs.
But you may have come across simulations if Wolfram Physics using hypergraphs.
What’s the difference?
What is a hypergraph?
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This episode refers to previous episodes on dimensionality:
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What is time? Is it just a ticking clock, or is it something more profound?
In this thought-provoking episode of Into the Impossible, Stephen Wolfram challenges everything we know about time, offering a revolutionary computational perspective that could forever change how we understand the universe.
Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research and the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, and Wolfram Language. Over the course of 4 decades, he has pioneered the development & application of computational thinking. He has been responsible for many discoveries, inventions & innovations in science, technology, and business.
He argues that time is the inevitable progress of computation in the universe, where simple rules can lead to complex behaviors. This concept, termed computational irreducibility, implies that time has a rigid structure and that our perception of it is limited by our computational capabilities. Wolfram also explores the relationship between time, space, and gravity, suggesting that dark matter might be a feature of the structure of space.
Tune in to discover the true nature of time.
The Milky Way contains more than 100 billion stars, each following its own evolutionary path through birth, life, and sometimes violent death.
For decades, astrophysicists have dreamed of creating a complete simulation of our galaxy, a digital twin that could test theories about how galaxies form and evolve. That dream has always crashed against an impossible computational wall.
Until now.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have identified a natural process in the brain that can remove existing amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease while also helping preserve memory and thinking ability. This process relies on astrocytes, star shaped support cells, which can be guided to clear out the toxic plaque buildup commonly seen in Alzheimer’s. When the team increased the amount of Sox9, a protein that influences many astrocyte functions during aging, the cells became more effective at removing amyloid deposits. The findings, reported in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that strengthening astrocyte activity could one day help slow cognitive decline linked to neurodegenerative disorders.
“Astrocytes perform diverse tasks that are essential for normal brain function, including facilitating brain communications and memory storage. As the brain ages, astrocytes show profound functional alterations; however, the role these alterations play in aging and neurodegeneration is not yet understood,” said first author Dr. Dong-Joo Choi, who conducted this work while at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy and the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor. Choi is now an assistant professor at the Center for Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology, Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
