Is reality discrete or continuous? | Stephen Wolfram and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, theoretical physicist, and the founder of Wolfram Research, a company behind Wolfram|Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the Wolfram Physics and Metamathematics projects.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[LexClips]

Guest bio: Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, theoretical physicist, and the founder of Wolfram Research, a company behind Wolfram|Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the Wolfram Physics and Metamathematics projects.

[ahobimo]

Brilliant man. I won't pretend I understood all of it. But what i grasped was fascinating.

[TheVincent]

If discrete, wat is in between the discrete steps and can our mind comprehend that? If continuous, what is the smallest change and can our mind comprehend that?

[QED_]

Always interesting how my understanding of these videos fades in and out as I'm listening. I'll be following along with the explanation pretty well . . . and then suddenly there'll be a gap of 5-10 seconds where I've got no idea what's being said.

[claudetaillefer]

Fascinating! One of Lex Fridman's best podcast clips. I would have liked more discussion about the relationship between computation and entropy; and between the discreteness of the physical world and the continuousness of pure mathematics. If pure mathematics is continuous (can mathematics really do without Analysis?) and the physical world is discrete, what does that say about the relationship between the two? (Could the physical world somehow "emerge" from pure mathematics?) Also, if the physical world is a bit-flipping computation, and entropy increases from a maximally ordered initial state to a maximally disordered one, what does that say about the nature of that computation, and in particular the relationship between entropy and computation in general? Does the sum of all irreducible computations in the physical world amount to an algorithm that decompresses the compressed information of the initial state? If so, does it mean the end of the physical world when the computation is done and the information is completely decompressed?

[MusingsFromTheJohn]

I do not understand why people do not see reality is both discrete and analog continuous at the same time. Matter is made up of knots of vibrating energy which forms discrete spaces but elements of, parts of, those vibrating knots of energy reach outwards in an analog manner going infinitely outwards and while we can say after some distance the effect becomes so small it can be considered zero, all indications are it is not zero but simply keeps getting closer and closer to zero without ever exactly reaching zero.

Thus, reality is both analog and discrete at the same time and it depends upon how we are looking at it and for what purpose when deciding which aspect is more important to us at that time, the analog or discrete part.

[MikeStJean]

So much to unpack. What a beautiful and brilliant train of thought…

[smittymcjob]

This is the infinite series of going on a tangent!

[peanutnutter]

If space is discrete, you can relate matter to it through gravity. If space is discrete you can easily explain dark energy as the space between galaxies expanding brick by brick, probably as a swap of matter to space, or energy to space.

[mikefinn]

Dark matter came to mind as you were discussing space and discrete particles, before you named it. Maybe assign a unit, similar to the photon, to the CMB. Then do the math and see if the equations work. Tha math of celluar automata?

[CuriosityIgnited]

It's fascinating to hear Stephen and Lex delve into the question of whether reality, including matter and space, is discrete or continuous. They did a stellar job of elucidating complex concepts such as entropy and its historical understandings, the evolution of quantum theory, and the possible discreetness of space. The part that intrigued me the most was Wolfram's suggestion that dark matter might be the "caloric of our time, " implying that it could be a feature of space rather than a type of particle. This discussion rekindles my appreciation for how scientific understanding evolves over time, often overturning previous assumptions. Let's continue contemplating the profound question of the nature of reality and its impact on our understanding of the universe. Thanks to both for this enlightening conversation.

[QED_]

This is actually a pretty important high-level topic . . .

[imjustadev]

This is a question that has intrigued me since I first learned how powerful numerical analysis is

[Abstract]

Great talk! This is critically important for understanding the world and us.

[shaunandrews]

Could the analogue for dark matter be the casimir effect but for the gravitational field or the scalar field rather than EM field?

[jociecovington]

Thanks Professor Fridman for always bringing thought-provoking videos!

[brianshissler]

Everything but time is discrete, only time is continuous. We exist in discrete packages, kinda like a movie film. It happens so fast and so often we cant detect it. And how could we? You cant detect where you dont exist. My question though, is what exists in the time between our discrete "packages" could all of that be dark matter?

My theory anyway

[Olodus]

Of all the "Theory of Everything"s I've heard, I find Stephen's the most interesting but also the one I feel most fitting. What I "feel is fitting" of course has no real value on its veracity. I guess what I mean is I like it as a model. But I am a software engineer so of course I would say that.
Btw, I am also very glad to hear that he is thinking about ways one would find evidence for his theory - that is what actually makes it something serious. From fun model to actual thing.

[jrgenbentzen]

Continous; its only a lack of awareness that can make it feel discrete.
Ask your people, kids; they feel reality as continous; its state of consciousness that matter

[Nick_Tag]

I wonder if he knows about penroses erabonds (not sure of the spelling).
Penrose thinks dark matter is a consequence of his CCC model.. Would love to see an integration of wolfram physics project and CCC