The Last Theory (Mark Jeffery)
Explore every episode of The Last Theory
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09 Mar 2024 | Beyond physics: applying the Wolfram model in biology, chemistry, mathematics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:13:30 | |
In this final excerpt from our conversation in October 2022, Jonathan Gorard explains how ideas from Wolfram Physics can be applied in fields beyond physics, including biology, chemistry and mathematics. He describes the concept of compositionality, and digs deeper into why the hypergraph is able to model so much of our universe. — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan:
People mentioned by Jonathan: — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 29 Dec 2022 | Where I’m going with Wolfram Physics in 2023 | 00:07:21 | |
I’ve been blown away by your response to The Last Theory in 2022. How am I going to thank you for reading, listening, watching and subscribing? Well, by bringing you more Wolfram Physics in the New Year, that’s how. Here are 7 directions I want to take The Last Theory in 2023. — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 09 Apr 2024 | In defence of Stephen Wolfram | 00:16:44 | |
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:
Stephen Wolfram’s claims:
Some of the things Stephen Wolfram created:
Other people involved in the Wolfram Physics Project: Other people mentioned in this episode:
Brilliant people of the past:
Other episodes of The Last Theory mentioned:
Reference:
Images:
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 01 Jun 2023 | Why has there been no progress in physics since 1973? | 00:12:13 | |
The twentieth century was a truly exciting time in physics. From 1905 to 1973, we made extraordinary progress probing the mysteries of the universe: special relativity, general relativity, quantum mechanics, the structure of the atom, the structure of the nucleus, enumerating the elementary particles. Then, in 1973, this extraordinary progress... stopped. I mean, where are the fundamental discoveries in the last 50 years equal to general relativity or quantum mechanics? Why has there been no progress in physics since 1973? For this high-budget, big-hair episode of The Last Theory, I flew all the way to Oxford to tell you why progress stopped, and why it’s set to start again: why progress in physics might be about to accelerate in the early twenty-first century in a way we haven’t seen since those heady days of the early twentieth century. — Eric Weinstein’s claims that there has been no progress in physics since 1973: — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 15 Sep 2022 | What is a hypergraph in Wolfram Physics? | 00:12:05 | |
In previous episodes, I’ve been simulating Wolfram Physics using graphs. But you may have come across simulations of Wolfram Physics using hypergraphs. What’s the difference? What is a hypergraph? —
and previous episodes on space:
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The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 23 Feb 2023 | Why I changed my mind about computational irreducibility with Jonathan Gorard | 00:10:06 | |
Computational irreducibility means that there are no shortcuts when we apply rules to the hypergraph.
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
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Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 16 Mar 2023 | Living in the fourth dimension with Dugan Hammock | 00:06:51 | |
Dugan Hammock lives in the fourth dimension. As Jonathan Gorard mentioned in our recent conversation on How to draw the hypergraph in Wolfram Physics, Dugan has worked on plotting the evolution of the hypergraph over time. We get into that in the second part of our conversation, but in this first part, I get to know Dugan as a mathematician and artist. Enjoy his amazing animations of three-dimensional cross-sections through four-dimensional hypershapes! —
People mentioned by Dugan — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 03 Nov 2022 | The founding of the Wolfram Physics Project with Jonathan Gorard | 00:14:30 | |
In 2019, Jonathan Gorard and Max Piskunov goaded Stephen Wolfram into pursuing his ideas for a new kind of science. This led to the announcement of The Wolfram Physics Project in 2020. Last week, I talked to Jonathan Gorard about the revolutionary ideas that have come out of the project. In this first excerpt from our conversation, Jonathan talks about his instrumental role in the founding of The Wolfram Physics Project. We cover why the time was right in 2020... and why it had been wrong in 2002 when Stephen Wolfram published his book A New Kind of Science. We talk about how Wolfram Physics might take over from string theory, why Jonathan likes string theory... and why he doesn’t. It was a true pleasure to talk to Jonathan about what might prove a pivotal moment in the history of science. —
People and Projects
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
— Images
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Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 28 Apr 2022 | Where’s the computer that runs the universe? | 00:11:49 | |
I’ve been running simulations of our universe, according to Stephen Wolfram’s computational theory of physics. Where’s the computer that runs these simulations? Well, it’s right here. This a low-powered laptop in my hand is literally the computer that runs these universes. It’s natural to ask a follow-up question.
I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 01 Dec 2022 | What is the multiway graph in Wolfram Physics? | 00:12:30 | |
In Episode 15: Where to apply Wolfram’s rules? (listen to the audio ⋅ watch the video ⋅ read the article) I introduced a radical idea. When we’re applying a rule to a graph in Wolfram Physics, there are generally many possible places in the graph we could apply the rule, giving us many possible next states of the universe. Here’s the radical idea: rather than choose one of these possible universes, we choose not to choose. Instead, we keep each of them in mind. The trouble is, if we choose not to choose, the number of possible universes we have to keep in mind gets extremely large extremely quickly. To help us visualize all these possible universes, we’re going to need the multiway graph It’s a crucial idea in Wolfram Physics. The multiway graph will allow us to derive aspects of quantum mechanics from Wolfram Physics. It’ll lead us to a concept of the observer that promises to resolve issues related to the collapse of the wavefunction that have plagued quantum mechanics ever since Schrödinger put his metaphorical cat into a metaphorical cage. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll lead us to a model of consciousness itself. – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 10 Nov 2022 | Why I don’t like String Theory | 00:05:27 | |
In my conversation with Jonathan Gorard about the founding of the Wolfram Physics Project, I said that I don’t like String Theory. Now, I’ll admit, I don’t really understand String Theory. It’s highly mathematical. And I’m not much of a mathematician. Actually, that’s an understatement. I’m not a mathematician at all. So if there’s a problem in the relationship between String Theory and me, it might not be String Theory, it might be me. Sadly, admitting that I might be part of the problem doesn’t change anything between us. I still don’t like String Theory. Here’s why. – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 21 Jul 2022 | Is space continuous or discrete? | 00:09:06 | |
We’re used to thinking of space as continuous. A stone can be anywhere in space. It can be here. Or it can be an inch to the left. Or it can be half an inch further to the left. Or it can be an infinitesimal fraction of an inch even further to the left. Space is infinitely divisible. The graphs of Wolfram Physics, however, are discrete. If, as Stephen Wolfram proposes, the universe is a graph, then you can’t be just anywhere in space. It makes sense to think about a node of the graph as a position in space. It makes no sense to think about anywhere in between the nodes as positions in space. This space is not infinitely divisible. It’s as if a stone could be here in space, or here in space, but nowhere in between. So which is it? Has every physicist from Leucippus to Einstein been right to insist that space is continuous? Or is Wolfram right to up-end millennia of settled science and insist that space is discrete? I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 08 Dec 2022 | Why I took a chance on Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:09:18 | |
Jonathan Gorard admits that it was a risk, for his academic career, to work on the Wolfram Physics project. In this third excerpt from my recent conversation with Jonathan, I asked him how he thought about that risk and why he decided to take it. He told me that the opportunity to work with Stephen Wolfram on this new model is a bit like being given an opportunity to work with von Neumann and Ulam on cellular automata, or with Turing, Church and Gödel on computational models, back in the early twentieth century. So I asked Jonathan whether he thought, as I do, that the reframing physics in terms of computation feels like we’re in a scientific revolution, as important as the reframing of physics in terms of mathematics several hundred years ago. “It’s a strong statement,” he replied, “but I don’t think it’ll end up being too inaccurate.” For me, the opportunity to talk to Jonathan about Wolfram Physics feels a bit like being given an opportunity to interview Dirac, Heisenberg, Pauli or Schrödinger back in the early days of quantum mechanics. These are exciting times. —
People and Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
Image credits
For images from the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Unless otherwise indicated, this information has been authored by an employee or employees of the Triad National Security, LLC, operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge, provided that this Notice and any statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies. Neither the Government nor Triad makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility for the use of this information. I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 17 Nov 2022 | From clockwork to computation in Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:10:36 | |
This is the second of a series of excerpts from my recent conversation with Jonathan Gorard, who was instrumental in the founding of The Wolfram Physics Project. I asked Jonathan why he found the computational approach to physics so compelling. In his answer, he broached a wide range of fascinating topics in the philosophy of science:
This led us to discuss a couple of the deeper questions of Wolfram Physics:
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People and Concepts mentioned by Jonathan —
Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 26 Jan 2023 | How to draw the hypergraph in Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:08:06 | |
The hypergraph is the universe. So if we want to see the universe, we need only draw the hypergraph. The question is: how? The nodes and edges of the hypergraph are determined by the rules of Wolfram Physics. But how we draw those nodes and edges is not determined. The drawing of the hypergraph is not the universe, it’s just a way of visualizing the universe. So I asked Jonathan Gorard how we might decide where to position the nodes and edges when we draw the hypergraph, so that we can see what’s really going on in Wolfram Physics. —
People mentioned by Jonathan
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 17 Feb 2022 | Why you’ve never heard of Wolfram Physics | 00:08:06 | |
Wolfram Physics might be the most fundamental scientific breakthrough in your lifetime. And yet you’ve probably never heard of it. Here’s why.
— Prefer to watch the video? Watch here The full article is here | |||
| 17 Mar 2022 | What is physics? the how and the why | 00:10:19 | |
I like being asked questions about Wolfram Physics. When I try to answer them, though, I often find myself trapped in an infinite regress. To address a question about Wolfram Physics, I might first need to address another, more fundamental question, about physics. And to address that question, I might first need to address another, more fundamental question, than might be more philosophy than physics. Today, I’m going to go to one of those deep questions that need to be asked, if not answered, before I can begin to address many of the questions I’ve been asked about Wolfram Physics. What is physics? Prefer to watch the video? Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 04 Aug 2022 | Space-time is dead | 00:12:18 | |
In his General Theory of Relativity, Einstein combined the three dimensions of space with the one dimension of time in what we now know as Einstein’s equations. Ever since, physicists have thought of space and time as effectively the same thing: components of four-dimensional space-time. This might be the biggest blunder physicists have ever made. Stephen Wolfram, on page 22 of his book A project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics, calls it the “one ‘wrong turn’ in the history of physics in the past century”. Space-time is dead. Here’s why... and how physicists got it so wrong for so long. I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 15 Dec 2022 | Is Wolfram Physics the next scientific revolution? | 00:10:53 | |
For the last few hundred years, all our theories of physics have been mathematical. If Stephen Wolfram is right, from now on, our most fundamental theories of physics may be computational. This shift from mathematics to computation feels to me like a scientific revolution. Recently, I asked Jonathan Gorard, who was instrumental in the founding of The Wolfram Physics Project, whether it feels to him, too, like a scientific revolution. “I think so,” he said. “I mean, it’s a strong statement, but I don’t think it’ll end up being too inaccurate.” (If you want to check out that part of our conversation, you can listen here or watch here.) Here’s why, in my mind, Wolfram Physics is the next scientific revolution. – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 13 Oct 2022 | How big is the computer that runs the universe? | 00:16:27 | |
As you’ll know from Episode 8: Where’s the computer that runs the universe? ( read ⋅ listen ⋅ watch ), I have my doubts about the existence of a computer that’s whirring away, applying Wolfram’s rules to Wolfram’s graphs, performing the computations required to run our universe. This computer, if it exists, is necessarily invisible to us, and as I warned in Episode 12: Beware invisible things ( read ⋅ listen ⋅ watch ) we should be wary of what we can’t see. Still, I want to revisit this idea of a computer that runs the universe. I want to come at it from a slightly different direction. Rather than adopt the stance of the monkey with its hands over its eyes and insist that if I can’t see it, it’s not there, let’s suppose that there is a computer that runs the universe and ask a simple question: How big would it have to be?
— I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 27 Oct 2022 | Hypergraphs are everywhere | 00:08:45 | |
Wolfram Physics models the universe as a hypergraph. Maybe I’m just seeing things, but it seems to me that hypergraphs are everywhere: physics, chemistry, biology, neurology, ecology, sociology, technology. What I want to know is: Why? Why are hypergraphs everywhere? —
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The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 07 Dec 2023 | How to measure the curvature of space | 00:15:56 | |
What if you’re inside a universe, and you want to measure the curvature of space? It’s important because getting a measure of the curvature of the hypergraph takes us one step further in Jonathan Gorard’s derivation of General Relativity from Wolfram Physics. Einstein’s equations relate the curvature of space to the presence of matter. So if we’re going to prove that Einstein’s equations follow from the Wolfram model, we’re going to need that measure of the curvature of the hypergraph. Once again, a two-dimensional crab comes to the rescue, given us a way to measure the curvature of a universe from inside that universe. — See Stephen Wolfram’s announcement, under Curvature in Space & Einstein’s Equations, also included as the introduction to his book A project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics, page 20, for more on measuring the curvature of space Concepts: — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 08 Apr 2023 | Causal invariance versus confluence with Jonathan Gorard | 00:13:29 | |
Causal invariance is one of the most important concepts in the Wolfram model... and one of the most difficult to capture. So I really wanted to hear Jonathan Gorard’s take on it. In this excerpt from our conversation, Jonathan addresses the differences between causal invariance and confluence. Causal invariance means that regardless of the order in which a rule is applied to the hypergraph, the same events occur, with the same causal relationships between them. Confluence, on the other hand, is the coming-together of different branches of the multiway graph. Jonathan explores different ways we might determine whether two nodes, two edges or two hypergraphs are the same, and explains that if we identify nodes and edges according to their causal histories, then causal invariance and confluence become the same idea. I’ve found myself listening to Jonathan’s explanation of causal invariance over and over to make sense of it, but it’s one of the areas where I’m convinced Jonathan has a unique contribution to make. — Jonathan Gorard • Jonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics Project • The Centre for Applied Compositionality
• Causal invariance • Causal structure
• Lorentz invariance • Confluence
I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 03 Feb 2022 | Nodes, edges, graphs & rules: the basic concepts of Wolfram Physics | 00:08:46 | |
Are you ready? Today, I’m going to dive right into Wolfram Physics. If you’ve never heard of Stephen Wolfram or his team’s project to find the fundamental theory of physics, don’t worry. Think of it like this: I’m going to dive right into the fundamental structure of the universe. And, well, you might not believe that the words “simple” and “physics” can go together, but I’m going to keep it simple. Today’s episode includes a lot of visuals. You can find them in the article, or you might want to switch to watching the video, where they’re fully animated. | |||
| 19 Jan 2024 | Where's the evidence for Wolfram Physics? with Jonathan Gorard | 00:14:32 | |
I asked Jonathan Gorard the question I’m asked the most: can the Wolfram model make testable predictions about reality, predictions that differ from those of general relativity and quantum mechanics, predictions that might prove that Wolfram Physics is right? Jonathan showed how the Wolfram model might shed light on some of the most mysterious phenomena of our universe, from black hole inspirals to quantum entanglement. He focused on four areas where the class of theories encompassed by the Wolfram model might predict observable phenomena: 1. Cosmological consequences of global dimension change 2. Astrophysical consequences of local dimension change 3. Discretization effects during extreme astrophysical events 4. Quantum mechanical effects such as maximum entanglement speed These dozen minutes of my conversation with Jonathan were dense with insights into Wolfram Physics, a true pleasure to revisit! — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
People mentioned by Jonathan: — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 19 Oct 2023 | How special is general relativity? with Jonathan Gorard | 00:06:16 | |
I asked Jonathan Gorard what it felt like when he realized that general relativity can be derived from the hypergraph. His answer took us in an unexpected direction. If the Wolfram model is to be an accurate model of our universe, then it must give us the Einstein equations. But what if any old model with any old rules can give us the Einstein equations? What if general relativity isn’t so special? This is one of the shorter excerpts from my conversation with Jonathan, but it’s a fascinating one. It takes us to one of the most powerful aspects of the Wolfram model: its ability to answer questions about why our universe is the way it is, questions that were once in the realm of philosophy but may now be within the scope of physics. — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 13 Jul 2023 | One rule to rule them all? with Jonathan Gorard | 00:07:24 | |
In the early days of the Wolfram Physics Project, Stephen Wolfram seemed to be seeking a single rule that, when applied to the hypergraph, could generate our universe. More recently, however, Wolfram has promoted the idea of the ruliad, the application of every possible rule to the hypergraph. So I asked Jonathan Gorard, who was instrumental in the founding of the Wolfram Physics Project, whether all rules might be applied to generate our universe, or whether he was searching for one rule to rule them all. — Stephen Wolfram’s 2010 TED talk in which he said he was committed “to see if within this decade we can finally hold in our hands the rule for our universe”. Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 17 Dec 2023 | Are electrons too big to simulate? with Jonathan Gorard | 00:05:56 | |
How big are electrons compared to the hypergraph? Is one electron formed of 10 nodes, or 10100 nodes? And if it’s 10100 nodes, might it prove impossible to simulate an electron on any computer we can possibly imagine? When I asked Jonathan Gorard this question, he took us on a tour of the scales of the universe, from the Planck scale to the Hubble scale. He revealed how the Wolfram Physics Project’s early estimate of the scale of the hypergraph was based on a tower of rickety assumptions. And he explained how the Wolfram model might connect with particle physics regardless of the disparities of scale. — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 20 Jan 2022 | Why I’m writing about Wolfram Physics | 00:06:54 | |
I always envy those people who, through a fantastic stroke of luck, find themselves to be exactly the right person in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I always ask myself, why can’t that happen to me? Well, it just did. Let me explain. In this week’s episode, I discuss why I’m writing about Wolfram Physics. I’ll be digging into the details, as well as taking a step back to see some of the philosophical implications, in future episodes. Prefer to watch the video? Watch at lasttheory.com/channel/001-why-i-am-writing-about-wolfram-physics The full article is at lasttheory.com/article/why-i-am-writing-about-wolfram-physics | |||
| 15 Jan 2025 | Why is space three-dimensional? with Stephen Wolfram | 00:19:36 | |
Hypergraphs can have any number of dimensions. They can be 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, 4.81-dimensional or, in the limit, ∞-dimensional. So how does the three-dimensional space we observe emerge from the hypergraph-based Wolfram model? Why is space three-dimensional? Stephen Wolfram’s surprising answer to this questions goes deep into space, time, computation and, crucially, our nature as observers. — Stephen Wolfram People mentioned by Stephen — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 19 Jan 2023 | What is the Big Bang in Wolfram’s universe? | 00:08:32 | |
What is the Big Bang in Wolfram Physics? There’s a straightforward answer to that question. It’s the point in the evolution of the universe where the hypergraph goes from nothing to something. It’s the start of the explosion that eventually yields the uncountable particles, planets, stars and galaxies of our universe. So that’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it? Well, yes, except that there’s one phrase above that demands further explanation: nothing to something. How does the universe go from nothing to something? – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 31 Mar 2022 | What is space? the where and the how far | 00:09:52 | |
What is space in Wolfram Physics? I’ve talked about the basic concepts of Wolfram Physics: nodes, edges, graphs & rules. I just threw these concepts out there. No explanation. No rhyme, no reason. Nodes, edges, graphs & rules. Take them or leave them. Naturally, this raised a few questions in some people’s minds. These questions can be summed up as follows: Wait... What? Nodes, edges, graphs & rules? Why? This a deep question. Let’s get into it. — This episode includes a few visuals, so you might prefer to read the article or watch the video. In this episode, I refer back to Episode #004: Different rules, different universes. This one, too, includes a lot of visuals, so again, I recommend you watch the video or read the article rather than listen to the audio for that episode. I also refer to a Polynesian stick chart. You can find it here: Micronesian navigational chart. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 13 Feb 2025 | Is everything determined? with Stephen Wolfram | 00:08:03 | |
Is everything that’s ever going to happen in the universe already determined? Or does something else – maybe randomness, maybe free will – play a role? Stephen Wolfram’s answer to this question is straightforward: the ruliad is fully determined. But there’s a twist. The ruliad is determined, but how we observe the evolution of the universe depends on where we are in the ruliad. In a fascinating introduction to the role of the observer in the Wolfram model, Stephen touches on some of the deepest philosophical questions in physics, finishing on one of the deepest: is there an objective reality? — Stephen Wolfram — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 27 Jul 2023 | What is a particle in Wolfram’s universe? | 00:17:32 | |
It’s pretty easy to see how three-dimensional space might arise from Wolfram Physics. The hypergraph kinda looks like space, and, for some rules, it kinda looks like it’s three-dimensional. But our universe isn’t just empty three-dimensional space. It’s mostly empty space, but there are also particles moving through that space: photons, neutrinos, electrons, quarks. Sometimes, these particles interact, annihilating each other and producing new particles. If Wolfram Physics is to be a successful model of our universe, it must, of course, model these elementary particles and their interactions. So where are the particles in the hypergraph? What is a particle in Wolfram’s universe? — Animations:
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— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 07 Jul 2022 | Beware invisible things | 00:10:44 | |
We humans have always been fond of invisible things. Poltergeists, fairies, unicorns, the Yeti, the Lost City of Atlantis. Just because you can’t see them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Scientists, no less than any other humans, suffer from this fondness for invisible things. Phlogiston, miasma, ether, strings. Just because you can’t see them, scientists have insisted, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Beware these invisible things. As I explore Wolfram Physics, I’m aware of certain invisible things that we believe in now, but we’re going to have to let go, if Stephen Wolfram is right. And I’m also aware of the temptation to replace this old set of invisible things with a new set of invisible things. Here’s why we’d do well to resist. I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 23 Dec 2024 | 5 reasons to take Wolfram Physics seriously | 00:06:37 | |
It feels like everyone has their pet Theory of Everything these days. So why should you take my preferred Theory of Everything seriously? Well, give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you 5 reasons why I find Wolfram Physics more compelling than anything else that’s happened in physics in my lifetime... ...and maybe you’ll want to take it seriously too. — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 05 Jan 2023 | Graphs v hypergraphs in Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:06:50 | |
Here’s a slightly technical question: Does Wolfram Physics really need hypergraphs? Or could it based on graphs instead? Jonathan Gorard shares some interesting insights into the evolution of Stephen Wolfram’s model for a fundamental theory of physics. Wolfram started with trivalent graphs, in which each edge joins two nodes, and each node has three edges. But when he ran into issues implementing simulations using these simple graphs, he solved the problem by graduating to hypergraphs, in which each hyperedge can join any number of nodes, and each node can have any number of hyperedges. Here’s how hypergraphs, rather than graphs, came to be the basis of Wolfram Physics. — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 22 Dec 2022 | Why hypergraphs might be a good model of the universe with Jonathan Gorard | 00:10:26 | |
Wolfram Physics is based on hypergraphs. Why? What is it about hypergraphs that might make them a better model of the universe than, say, strings of characters, or cellular automata, or Turing machines? When I asked Jonathan Gorard this question, he gave an answer that was deeply insightful. It’s such a core question, so fundamental to why we should take the Wolfram model seriously, that I’ve listened to Jonathan’s answer over and over. —
People and Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
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Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 29 Sep 2022 | Unary, binary, ternary, k-ary hyperedges in Wolfram Physics | 00:09:44 | |
Here are answers to some fundamental questions about hypergraphs: A hyperedge can connect any number of nodes: one, two, three, four, seventeen or any other number. And a hypergraph can include any of these different kinds of hyperedge, or all of them. Let’s take a look at what this means for Wolfram Physics... and at some of the beautiful hypergraphs it allows us to generate! I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 02 Sep 2022 | Where to apply Wolfram's rules? | 00:12:57 | |
Confession time: I haven’t been entirely honest with you about applying a rule to a graph in Wolfram Physics. I’ve explained precisely how to apply a rule, but I’ve been strangely silent when it comes to where to apply the rule. I know, it’s unlike me to be silent, right? Time to come clean. It turns out that the question of where to apply Wolfram’s rules is not as easily answered as you might think. This seemingly straightforward question will take us into the philosophy of time, causality, consciousness, contingency and determinism. And it’ll lead us towards some of the most important concepts in Wolfram Physics: the multiway graph, branchial space and causal invariance. Check your breathing apparatus: we’re going deep. I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 09 Jan 2025 | The first wow for Stephen Wolfram | 00:08:52 | |
Stephen Wolfram reveals that his first major wow along the path towards a fundamental theory of physics was his realization that General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are the same theory, played out in different kinds of space. Many other dominos have fallen along the way, from the derivation of Einstein’s equations to applications of the ruliad beyond physics. But the aspect of Wolfram Physics that Stephen Wolfram himself finds maybe the most compelling is this mirroring of the two pillars of twentieth century physics. Perhaps General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics aren’t as incompatible as they’ve so long seemed. In this first excerpt from my conversation with Stephen Wolfram, he tells the story of how he came to apply hypergraphs and hypergraph rewriting rules to the universe itself, and arrived at the first traces of a path towards what might be the last theory of physics. — Stephen Wolfram People mentioned by Stephen — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 26 May 2022 | Are Wolfram’s graphs three‑dimensional? | 00:14:48 | |
Are Wolfram’s graphs three-dimensional? In Episode #009: How to measure the dimensionality of the universe – watch the video or read the article – I introduced a mathematically-minded crab, which was able to determine the dimensionality of its universe by measuring how much space it covered moving different distances in every possible direction. Now I’m going to use the same crabby method to determine the dimensionality of graphs generated by Wolfram Physics. I’m finally going to answer the question: how many dimensions are there in one of Wolfram’s universes? And the answer’s going to be unexpected. Here’s a hint: it’s not two and it’s not three. Today’s episode includes a lot of visuals, so I recommend you watch the video or read the article rather than listen to the audio. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 24 Aug 2023 | Peer review is suffocating science | 00:14:37 | |
You know peer review, right? It’s the way academics check each other’s research papers. It ensures that only the good ones are published and prevents the bad ones from getting through. Right? Wrong. Peer review does precisely the opposite of what you think it does. It prevents the good papers from being published, and ensures that only the bad ones get through. Peer review is suffocating science. If we want to reverse the stagnation of science over the last 50 years, then we’ve got to get rid of peer review. —
Scientific papers:
Physicists:
My projects: Image of Adam Mastroianni by permission from Adam Mastroianni — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here The full article is here Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 10 Aug 2023 | Is the universe a tautology? with Jonathan Gorard | 00:10:30 | |
“Sorry, this is now getting very metaphysical,” says Jonathan Gorard part way through this excerpt from our conversation. We start by talking about applying more than one rule to the hypergraph to create rulial multiway systems. This takes us part way towards applying every possible rule, in other words, towards the ruliad. We move on to the idea of measuring the complexity of a structure in terms of the minimum amount of information needed to express it. Jonathan applies this idea to the ruliad, pointing out that it takes almost no information to express, since it encompasses all possible rules. Since he believes, however, that there is some content to the universe – that it is not a tautalogy – this leads Jonathan to reject the idea of the ruliad. We dig into why he has this intuition is that the universe is not a tautalogy. Jonathan invokes theologians like John Duns Scotus, who promulgated the idea the the world is neither completely reducible nor completely irreducible. He follows the scholastics in steering a middle path, suggesting that there’s enough content in the universe that it’s interesting, but not so much content that we can’t write down well-defined laws of nature. This brings us, for the first time, to the role of the observer in the Wolfram model. Again, Jonathan steers a middle path between placing the computational burden entirely on the universe and placing the computational burden entirely on the observer. I find this 9-minute exposition fascinating. It gets to the heart of some of the philosophical differences between Jonathan Gorard and Stephen Wolfram, and to the nature of the universe and our role as observers. —
People mentioned by Jonathan Research mentioned by Jonathan
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 15 Sep 2024 | Causality ain't what you think it is | 00:18:21 | |
Do you know what causality is? If you do, let me know, because I’m not sure. I’ve never come across a conception of causality that makes sense to me. After all, our universe seems to follow simple equations like Einstein’s equations, and there’s no mention of causality in these equations. It makes me think that there’s no such thing as causality. Unless... Well, here’s the thing. I’m no longer sure that our universe does follow these continuous equations. I’m beginning to think that at the smallest scale, our universe might evolve through discrete computations. If that turns out to be true, it allows for a limited conception of causalityafter all. It’s causality, Jim, but not as we know it. — References:
The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | Loops and self‑loops in the hypergraph | 00:10:53 | |
So many of the most complex and most promising graphs and hypergraphs of Wolfram Physics involve loops and self-loops. They can play a crucial role in the evolution of graphs and hypergraphs... which means that they might play a crucial role in the evolution of the universe itself. Loops and self-loops matter, because including them in our models reduces the number of arbitrary assumptions we need to make in Wolfram Physics, making it more complete. – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 14 Apr 2022 | The expanse: dimension, separation & explosion | 00:09:39 | |
In the last episode, I introduced two fundamental characteristics of space: position and distance. Today, I’m going to introduce three more characteristics of space: dimension, separation & explosion. If it’s to be a viable theory of physics, Wolfram Physics has to accurately model space as we know it, including all five of these characteristics. Let’s see how it measures up. —
In the episode, I refer back to Episode #006: What is space? the where and the how far. Again, I recommend you watch the video or read the article rather than listen to the audio for that episode, since you’ll want to see the visuals! Doppler siren by jobro reproduced under CC BY 3.0 Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 01 Jun 2024 | Jonathan Gorard: the complete first interview | 02:48:59 | |
I’ve heard from many of you that you’d like the whole of my conversation with Jonathan Gorard in a single podcast. So here it is, the complete first interview. These three hours are a brilliant exposition of Wolfram Physics from a figure whose contributions to the project are second to none. — Jonathan Gorard
Jonathan’s seminal papers
Stephen Wolfram’s writings
A complete list of links to the research, concepts and people mentioned by Jonathan is here Images
For images from the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Unless otherwise indicated, this information has been authored by an employee or employees of the Triad National Security, LLC, operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge, provided that this Notice and any statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies. Neither the Government nor Triad makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility for the use of this information. — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 30 Jun 2023 | John von Neumann and the art of being there | 00:15:36 | |
John von Neumann might be the most important figure in Wolfram Physics prehistory. Whenever any of the most important prerequisites to Wolfram Physics were happening – quantum mechanics, Gödel’s theorem, Turing machines, electronic computers, cellular automata – John von Neumann always seemed to be there. How did John von Neumann always come to be in the right place at the right time to contribute to some of the most significant developments in physics, mathematics and computation history? For this, another high-budget, big-hair episode of The Last Theory, I flew all the way to Budapest, where John von Neumann was born, to point to a plaque and get some answers. —
People
Concepts
Computers Images
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 28 Jul 2024 | What precisely is causal invariance? | 00:15:10 | |
Causal invariance is a crucial concept in Wolfram Physics. It’s how we get special relativity from the Wolfram model. It’s how we get quantum mechanics from the Wolfram model. So what precisely is causal invariance? This question will take us deep into the multiway graph, to an even deeper question: what is causality? — What is the multiway graph? video ⋅ podcast ⋅ article — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 09 Feb 2023 | What’s beyond the universe? | 00:14:38 | |
There are two questions about Wolfram Physics I’m asked a lot: What’s beyond the hypergraph? And what’s between the nodes and edges of the hypergraph? There’s a simple answer to this question. Nothing. There’s nothing beyond the hypergraph. There’s nothing beyond the universe. But it’s not a very effective answer. So here’s a deeper response to the age-old question: What’s beyond the universe? – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 18 May 2023 | How to find causally invariant rules with Jonathan Gorard | 00:05:13 | |
Causal invariance is a crucial characteristic for any rule of Wolfram Physics. According to Wolfram MathWorld, if a rule is causally invariant, then “no matter which evolution is chosen for a system, the history is the same, in the sense that the same events occur and they have the same causal relationships.” Causal invariance is one of the assumptions Jonathan Gorard needs to make to derive the equations of General Relativity from the hypergraph. That’s how crucial it is! Given that not every rule of Wolfram Physics is causally invariant, I asked Jonathan how we find the ones that are. Here, in another excerpt from our recent conversation, is his answer: how to find causally invariant rules. — Jonathan Gorard
People and concepts mentioned by Jonathan
— I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 04 May 2023 | How to knit the universe | 00:10:50 | |
Now that I’ve introduced you to the different kinds of edges that might make up a hypergraph – unary, binary and ternary edges, as well as loops and self-loops – we can have some fun. Some of rules in the Wolfram model give rise to fascinating universes. Today, I’m going to show you a few rules that seem to fabricate space itself in much the same way as knitting needles might fabricate a blanket. And if you think that knitting is a far-fetched analogy, just wait until you see my animations! – I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 07 Sep 2023 | How to derive quantum mechanics from Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:15:34 | |
Here’s the first of two crucial excerpts from my conversation with Jonathan Gorard. The core idea of Wolfram Physics is that we can model the universe as a hypergraph. If we want this idea to be taken seriously, we’re going to have to derive physics from the hypergraph. The twin pillars of physics, as we know it, are quantum mechanics and general relativity. In this episode, Jonathan explains how quantum mechanics can be derived from the Wolfram model, indeed, how quantum mechanics unexpectedly fell out of the model. It’s a fascinating story. We start with the role of the observer. According to Jonathan, it turns out not to be necessary to narrow our focus to only causally invariant rules. Why not? Because macroscopic observers like ourselves impose causal invariance through our coarse-graining of the hypergraph. In other words, by squinting at the universe, seeing only its large-scale features and glossing over the finer details, we reduce multiple paths through the multiway graph to a single timeline, and, in the process, impose causal invariance. Jonathan goes on to explain that this coarse-graining can be modelled with completion rules. These are fake rules, similar to the true rules of Wolfram Physics, but posited solely to model the coarse-graining of the hypergraph by the observer. And here’s the thing. According to Jonathan, these completion rules are formally equivalent to the collapse of the wavefunction in quantum mechanics. In other words, we finally have an explanation for how the observer causes the collapse of the wavefunction, reducing Schrödinger’s half live, half dead cat to one that’s either dead or alive. If Jonathan’s right, then this is a true breakthrough, not just in quantum mechanics, but in the philosophy of physics. In the next episode, we’ll move on to the other pillar of physics: Jonathan will explain how to derive general relativity from the hypergraph. There’s much more to explain about each of these derivations, but we’re finally getting to the crux of Wolfram Physics, the question of whether it can, after all, model our universe. —
Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
Stephen Wolfram’s books — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 16 Nov 2023 | A toy model of particles with Jonathan Gorard | 00:08:01 | |
In this excerpt from my conversation with Jonathan Gorard, he proposes that particles in Wolfram Physics might be persistent topological obstructions in the hypergraph. He starts with a toy model in which elementary particles are non-planar tangles moving and interacting in an otherwise planar hypergraph. But he doesn’t stop there. He explains that there’s an infinite variety of hypergraphs that give rise to such persistent topological obstructions. These localized tangles behave in ways that look a lot like particle physics. — Jonathan Gorard
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
Image:
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 11 Jan 2024 | The knowledge hypergraph | 00:01:03 | |
The Open Web Mind is a protocol for shared human intelligence, based on the knowledge hypergraph. Take a look at this quick introduction for subscribers to The Last Theory, then jump to the 2-minute trailer on the new channel. And if you haven’t done so already, make sure to subscribe to the new Open Web Mind channel, podcast and newsletter. If you’re interested in Wolfram Physics, I think you’ll find Open Web Mind fascinating! — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 07 Oct 2023 | Why scientific theories need not make predictions | 00:13:08 | |
In my exploration of Wolfram Physics, I’ve come across one objection more than any other. Over and over again, people have told me that the Wolfram model must be rejected because it makes no predictions. I could respond by saying that Wolfram Physics does make predictions. It predicts Einstein’s equations. It predicts Schrödinger’s equation. But it’s true that it doesn’t make any predictions that differ from those of general relativity and quantum mechanics. At least, not yet. So here’s my more robust response to the objection: all scientific theories make no predictions when they’re first formulated. If we dismiss any new theory solely because it doesn’t make any predictions, then we’d dismiss all new theories. It’s time for academics to learn the lessons of the history of science, and open their minds to bold, new ideas, like Wolfram Physics. — Ideas:
Ancient astronomies: Images:
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 21 Sep 2023 | How to derive general relativity from Wolfram Physics with Jonathan Gorard | 00:13:38 | |
Here’s a masterclass from Jonathan Gorard. One of the most compelling results to come out of the Wolfram Physics is Jonathan’s derivation of the Einstein equations from the hypergraph. Whenever I hear anyone criticize the Wolfram model for bearing no relation to reality, I tell them this: Jonathan Gorard has proved that general relativity can be derived from the hypergraph. In this excerpt from our conversation, Jonathan describes how making just three reasonable assumptions – causal invariance, asymptotic dimension preservation and weak ergodicity – allowed him to derive the vacuum Einstein equations from the Wolfram model. In other words, the structure of space-time in the absence of matter more or less falls out of the hypergraph. And making one further assumption – that particles can be treated as localized topological obstructions – allowed Jonathan to derive the non-vacuum Einstein equations from the Wolfram model. In other words, the structure of space-time in the presence of matter, too, falls out of the hypergraph. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this result. At the very least, we can say that the Wolfram model is consistent with general relativity. To state it more strongly: we no longer need to take general relativity as a given; instead, we can derive it from Wolfram Physics. —
Jonathan Gorard
People mentioned by Jonathan Research mentioned by Jonathan
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
From A Project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics by Stephen Wolfram: Images
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 02 Nov 2023 | How to tell if space is curved | 00:11:38 | |
What if you’re inside a universe, and you want to know whether space is curved? The reason I’m asking is that according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, our universe is curved, by the presence of matter. If Wolfram Physics is to be a true model of our universe, then the space represented by the hypergraph must also be curved by the presence of matter. Which means that determining whether space is curved is crucial to Jonathan Gorard’s derivation of Einstein’s equations from the Wolfram model. Fortunately, there’s a way to find out that’s so simple that even a crab or a space frog could do it. Here’s how to tell if your universe curved. — Dimensionality:
Space-time: Euclidean geometry: — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 09 Jun 2022 | What are dimensions in Wolfram’s universe? | 00:11:39 | |
We know what it means when we say that our universe is three-dimensional: it means that we can move in three orthogonal directions: left-right; up-down; forwards-backwards. But what would it mean to say that a universe is 2½-dimensional? Or 3.37-dimensional?
I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 15 Mar 2025 | Coherent consciousness in a branching universe with Stephen Wolfram | 00:12:32 | |
When the universe branches, we branch with it. Those branches don’t remain forever apart. They come back together. So we, as conscious observers, are rescued from splitting into an immense number ever-so-slightly different versions of ourselves. When the branches of the universe – and the versions of ourselves – come back together, we don’t worry that the many paths we took to get there are ever-so-slightly different. We equivalence all those different paths. We treat all those ever-so-slightly different branches of history as if they were more-or-less the same. I asked Stephen Wolfram about this strangest of consequences of a branching universe. Through all this splitting and coming-back-together, how can I remain a single, coherent, persistent consciousness? Stephen’s answer takes us through branchial space to quantum computing, the maximum entanglement speed and the elementary length. — Stephen Wolfram Concepts mentioned by Stephen
People mentioned by Stephen — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web Mind Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 02 Mar 2025 | What is the causal graph in Wolfram Physics? | 00:15:38 | |
The causal graph is at the core of Wolfram Physics. It’s crucial to the derivations of Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. And if that’s not enough to convince you that you need to know about the causal graph, how about this: The causal graph is a reflection of the nature of causality, the nature of objectivity, the nature of reality itself. — Einstein’s train thought experiment What is the multiway graph? video ⋅ podcast ⋅ article What precisely is causal invariance? video ⋅ podcast ⋅ article Causality ain’t what you think it is video ⋅ podcast ⋅ article — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 11 Feb 2024 | Who is Stephen Wolfram? | 00:09:36 | |
You know who Stephen Wolfram is, right? Whether you love him or, you know, don’t love him, there’s no denying that Stephen Wolfram has founded a host of fascinating projects... most of them named Wolfram-something-or-other. What are all these Wolfram-branded projects? Who is Stephen Wolfram? — Some of the things Stephen Wolfram created:
not to mention:
More about Stephen Wolfram: Stephen Wolfram’s education: Some of Stephen Wolfram’s special subjects: Some of Stephen Wolfram’s books: Other people involved in the Wolfram Physics Project: Reference:
Image:
Some of my own projects:
— The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 30 Oct 2024 | Why does the universe exist? | 00:16:58 | |
Here’s a question. Why does the universe exist? Why is there something rather than nothing? One of Stephen Wolfram’s boldest claims is that he has the answer. Let me know whether you’re convinced by his argument! — Ideas: People: — The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of Open Web Mind The full article is here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 27 Dec 2021 | The most fundamental scientific breakthrough of our time | 00:01:00 | |
Welcome to The Last Theory, an easy-to-follow exploration of what might be the last theory of physics. In 2020, Stephen Wolfram launched the Wolfram Physics Project to find the elusive fundamental theory that explains everything. On The Last Theory, I investigate the implications of Wolfram’s ideas and dig into the details of how his universe works.
After all, this might be the most fundamental scientific breakthrough of our time. | |||
| 12 May 2022 | How to measure the dimensionality of the universe | 00:09:45 | |
Today’s episode includes a lot of visuals, so I recommend you watch the video or read the article rather than listen to the audio. In Episode #007: The expanse: dimension, separation & explosion – watch the video or read the article – I argued that the graphs of Wolfram Physics are going to have to be three-dimensional to be a true representation of our universe. But how can we tell whether these graphs are three-dimensional? Many of them are so convoluted that it’s difficult to tell whether they’re two-dimensional, three-dimensional or somewhere in between. I’m going to make the question even more difficult. We’ve been looking at graphs from the outside, from a God’s-eye view. In reality, though, we’re not outside the graph. Remember, we’re hoping that the graphs of Wolfram Physics will prove to be a true representation of our universe, and we can’t be outside our own universe. How could we tell whether a graph is two-dimensional, or three-dimensional, or even two-and-a-half-dimensional, from inside the graph? How would we measure the dimensionality of our own universe? Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 15 Jun 2023 | How to find interesting and plausible rules with Jonathan Gorard | 00:08:24 | |
The Wolfram model allows an infinite number of rules. Some of these rules generate interesting universes that are complex and connected, some of these rules generate plausible universes that look a little like our own, and others... go nowhere. In this excerpt from my conversation with Jonathan Gorard, I ask him how to find rules of Wolfram Physics that are both interesting and plausible. —
The paper referred to by Jonathan
Concepts mentioned by Jonathan
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Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
| 03 Mar 2022 | Different rules, different universes | 00:20:05 | |
It’s all about the animations. I’ve been coding coding coding the few weeks to develop my simulations of Wolfram Physics. So now I’m able to explore a number of simple rules and ask a number of simple questions. What different rules could be applied to our universe? What different universes would arise from these rules? Today, I explore different rules, different universes. Today’s episode includes a lot of visuals, so you might prefer to read the article, or watch the video, where they’re fully animated. If you missed Episode #002, Nodes, edges, graphs & rules: the basic concepts of Wolfram Physics, you can find the article here and the video here. | |||
| 22 Apr 2023 | Animating the hypergraph with Dugan Hammock | 00:08:30 | |
Dugan Hammock creates beautiful animations of three-dimensional cross-sections through four-dimensional spaces. But his animations aren’t mere mathematical abstractions. He has also applied his geometrical skills to animating the hypergraph of Wolfram Physics, in such a way that it doesn’t jump from frame to frame. In this second part of my recent conversation with Dugan, we talk about his extending spring-electrical embedding into an additional time dimension... ...and we show some of the beautifully smooth animations that come out of it. —
People and concepts mentioned by Dugan — I release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here. Kootenay Village Ventures Inc. | |||
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