Computation and the Fundamental Theory of Physics - with Stephen Wolfram

Stephen Wolfram discusses his efforts to use what he's learned from exploring computational systems to build a new fundamental theory of all of physics.

Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha and the Wolfram Language; the author of A New Kind of Science; the originator of the Wolfram Physics Project; and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. Over the course of more than four decades, he has been a pioneer in the development and application of computational thinking—and has been responsible for many discoveries, inventions and innovations in science, technology and business.

This talk and Q&A was recorded by the Royal Institution on 3 November 2020.

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[ktrethewey]

I am a 73-yr-old scientist. In my opinion, this is one of THE most important single lectures ever given. It entirely changes our understanding of everything.

[thinkinaboutpolitics]

This channel is an absolute treasure for all on YouTube. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

[peterandrew]

Stephen Wolfram your talk becomes richer with repeat listening, there’s such an abundance of significant ideas. Thank you. Please record more so future generations may study, unpack, and act upon these amazing concepts.

[Giganfank]

Someone: "Is there free will?"
Me: "Computationally irreducible."

[messedupfmj]

I can now go back and listen to you and Lex talk about computational irreducibility with a visual model in my mind! Thoroughly enjoyed!

[pafingl]

This is just incredibly amazing. How can it be possible to tie 20th century physics findings into a computational theory of the universe that appears mindblowingly sensible and make it conceptually roughly understandable in one hour? And all of these findings in such a short time... Though I am far from qualified to opine here, I can't help but feel that this is revolutionary work. Thank you a lot for the great talk!

[shuhu]

Thank you for letting me be able to watch this. This is a treasure I can't describe in words.

[jenniferarnold-delgado]

So fascinating . One idea is to create new words, another way is to teach numbers to toddlers in a different way than we do now . I love this man's mind .

[brothermine]

My eldest brother was also one of the pioneers who used computation to solve a physics problem. For his PhD thesis as one of John Wheeler's students at Princeton, he simulated what happens according to General Relativity in the simplest possible collision of two black holes: two identical, nonrotating black holes having a direct collision. (Spoiler alert: they form one larger black hole and emit a lot of gravitational radiation.) This was before the age of personal computers, and he used a timeshared IBM mainframe computer and punchcards.

[VacentViscera]

I think this man just computationally derived "Different strokes for different folks."...

Excellent talk.

[.-]

Thankyou Ri and Mr Wolfram for updating my spatial graph on what is essentially the initial branch and evolution of physics as we know it.
A Nobel prize is due for Stephen Wolfram, if only an experiment can proove this unification of Quantum Gravity.

[boyan]

Probably the ultimate joke of the universe would be if the seed for intial condition of computational model is indeed 42.

[ingliss]

I've watched several versions of this explanation now and it becomes more convincing each time (as a layman)

I'm also convinced that rules 257 and above are responsible for Stephens shirts. But we have to go through the whole process of generating them to find out what he'll wear next: there are no shortcuts.

[newenglandbarbell]

Absolutely amazing, and exciting.

Thanks Stephen and the Wolfram Team 👏👏

[williamfritz]

Wonderful! As a young father with zero money I nevertheless got drawn to book stores because it was like a home for my mind. I found Wolfram's huge book hot off the press and could neither purchase it nor seriously comprehend it, but I was entranced, returning to it alone in its place in the tiny 'Science' section of Barnes and Noble as if to a secret deposit of alien tech. I followed the website in retirement, but never thought to look for a presentation like this. Wonder-ful.

[vazap]

What an elegant way to present things, super interesting. Thanks again RI!

[DaveGilbertPhD]

Thanks Dr. Wolfram! Such a treat to hear you talk about your research.

[Bestape]

55:42 "When there is energy present, there are causal edges; when there are causal edges present, there is a deflection in geodesics and that deflection in geodesics is precisely the deflection that's associated with the force of gravity."

Makes sense to me. Turtles all the way down. Reminds me of cycloidal change. :o)

With Wolfram's definition, computational reducibility (generating function) and energy seem related to me. Though I wonder if a causal edge is a point at Infinity (limit) rather than a termination (no useful energy v. no energy). I don't know why we assume halted is fundamental, other than when we conceive ourselves the center of it all. Physics seems to explain nonhalting is fundamental. Maybe it's also that our mechanical computations require energy whereas the Universe as a computation doesn't have an off switch.

[infernalphoenix]

It's a privilege to listen to Stephen Wolfram, obviously! But the the real hero of this "talk" was that programming language he created !!
It just boggles my mind how seamlessly it encodes natural language into assembly.

[jopmens]

Watched this second time now and wont be the last. Please do another lecture, Stephen!