Let’s BUILD a COMPUTER in CONWAY's GAME of LIFE ⠠⠵

A short documentary on Conway's Game of Life, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its original publication on the October 1970 issue of Scientific American.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:39 - Conway's Game of Life
00:05:55 - Logic Gates
00:12:31 - Turing Completeness
00:18:14 - Conclusion
00:20:26 - Credits

●●● Credits ●●●
Script, Voice, Editing: Alan Zucconi
Script Supervision: James Donohue

"Life in Life" segment inspired by @mrphlip

Music: Jingle Punks - "Back of the Room Hang"
Music: C418 - "Cat" (Minecraft Volume Alpha)

This video was made possible by the support of many patrons on Patreon.

●●● References ●●●

●●● Social Links ●●●

[a.person]

Conway did what nobody else could do: Trick mathmaticians into doing pixel art.

[AlienAnthony]

I find it really crazy that you can essentially replicate the game of life infinitely like a fractal.

[ObjectsInMotion]

I think we should respect Conways legacy by not saying that the Game of Life was his legacy! Conway at first hated the popularity the game received, and though he did soften up to it by the end, wished he would be remembered by all his other mathematical achievements and not just this one thing. He really did consider the GOL to a be a minor achievement in his life!

[eatfruitsalad]

holy shit my jaw dropped when i saw the life simulating life

[callmeandoru]

Thanos: I use the stones to destroy the stones
Human: I use the computer to create the computer.

[RenX]

Life is Turing complete because we can build a Turing complete Computer inside it. Q.E.D.

[sxs]

That clip of life playing inside of life blew my mind. You could just copy this pattern into life in life and get life in life in life.

[nanamacapagal]

The cosmic horror in that Life in Life. Like realizing you're inside a simulation, within a simulation. I can feel it.

[fokocrispis]

Perfect! This video has that special "something" that moves people's curiosity. The best feeling in YouTube is clicking a random video and finding an absolute gem. Keep making stuff like this!

[bacicinvatteneaca]

The waving stickman flying off as a glider 😭

[xxNoFreeWillxx]

I've been fascinated with Conway's Game of Life since being briefly exposed to it in college as just a silly game in an astronomy class to show how complexity could evolve through very simple rules. This video was a fantastic tour de force through the most basic blinkers, that anybody could discover, to the unimaginably complicated creation of Life itself and to top it off with an amazingly simple and captivating explanation of how one could begin to build logic gates!! Great video!!! Very touching and sweet ending too :)

[danthest]

Computer in Conways Game of Life in Baba is you in Minecraft? Technically possible but...no

[rodrigoappendino]

This part where the tiny Conway's soul becomes a glider is brilliant.

[GrammarHoodie]

What an incredible video! I feel solemn and wondrous after that conclusion, and I'm glad to have experienced this.

[chakra]

ohhh shit I love the ending - the man himself turning into a single glider. poetic

[Swifter]

One of the cleanest videos I've seen in a long time, this is the kind of stuff that inspires me to make my own videos like this. Incredible video, enjoyed every second of it :)

[daviddawkins]

Astounding production quality, presentation, graphics, everything. Zooming out on Life in Life gave me goosebumps. Just brilliant.

[Wyshes]

Got here through Vsauce's retweet today - this video was absolutely fascinating, and it's very clear you know what you're talking about.

Hoping to see more content from you soon!

[shadowrage]

This short doc is nothing short of AMAZING. Really well done, informative and makes you want to implement the Game of Life and/or go put together a couple of logic gates. As a High school teacher, I will definitely be showing this video to a couple of students that like computer science. Please do more!

[personpacman]

Jesus how does this video only have 4 thousand views!