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The Wolfram Physics Project

writings.stephenwolfram.com

321–330 of 342 posts

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#321
post #261

How is what’s mentioned here, not just the old idea of determinism demonstrated or shown from a different perspective? I always thought science was biased toward the assumption that the universe follows basic deterministic rules, and the purpose of doing science was to find the nature of those rules. What I mean by this, is that when we do science, we are trying to determine the nature behind things - are we not? The…

> I have a hard time seeing anything new here. > Just .. [a] new perspective...

okie dokie

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#323

I've always liked the idea that the universe worked something like a cellular automaton at its lowest level, but I was always uncomfortable with how that presupposed a specific grid and a very rigid system of time. This system of hypergraph-rewriting excites me because it seems like a more generalized form/alternative to cellular automatons that fixes these issues. And then it's super exciting to see that you can get…

Each generation imagines God as whatever is coolest right then. In Newton's day, the universe was a tower clock.

Humanity will be around for, well, a few more years, not a blink of the universe's eye. Our grandchildren will have time to look into things, if civilization doesn't collapse. What are the odds that they will decide we were right, that the universe really is something we know about already?

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#325
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no stake in this at all and (I literally just learned what "Wolfram Derangement Syndrome" was by reading the comments that you linked to). It looks like you've said several times in the past that the people talking about Wolfram's self-obsession are practicing a "counterversion" of the same thing, but you've never explained why or how; to me, it seems obvious that being obsessed with another person who you don…

Yeah, I am not seeing the mirroring claimed. Salesman projects a reality distortion field. Potential buyers end up complaining about the RDF during the latest product advertisement. It is clearly a reaction, and in that sense a "mirror", but they aren't copying the behavior by projecting a reality distortion field themselves.

Less here, but WDS is all over the reddit threads about this. Condescending grad students talking about how condescending Wolfram is.

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#326

I'm pretty sure that this would violate Bell's theorem, and I'd love an explanation of why it wouldn't. It looks to me like a system of local, hidden variables, unless there's some sense in which changes in the hypergraph can propagate faster than the speed of light.

The theory needs a lot of development, so it would be hard to say whether it could or could not comply with Bells theorem. But since it is Turing complete presumably there is some variant of the theory which complies with Bell's theorem.

I find it interesting that under this theory regions of space and properties of objects are emergent phenomena. I suspect that under some variants of the theory, properties of objects could act as if they are both random and non local.

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#327

Applying arbitrary iterated transformation rules on graphs is very, very cool. But I don't think there's much in the way of existing theoretical math attacking this area. Much will need to be invented / discovered.

There is a big existing literature. Look at 'graph grammars'.

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love listening to Heather and Bret when they talk about biology. What irks me most is when Bret starts talking about how our society isn't sustainable and that we need to rethink society by incorporating insights from game theory and evolutionary biology. On that score, he is frustratingly vague. I don't even think I would likely agree with him, but without something more concrete there's nothing there for me to an…

Totally understood. I don't think Bret claims to have a good answer to the problem. I think his thesis is that we're in such uncharted territory, facing multiple existential crises, that none of the thought technologies that helped us up to this point (religion, democracy, capitalism, even scientific materialism) are necessarily going to suffice for us to survive/thrive into the 21st century. The common-ancestor driv…

Thanks!

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no more Wolfram Derangement Syndrome comments, please. They're off topic because they're always the same, and they compose into a weird counterversion of the very thing they're deriding. If you really can't stand it then kill the thread. But Wolfram is a bad actor in a discipline that runs on reputation. He needs to be talked about.

Agreed. Not talking about it sends a very clear message of implicit endorsement and agreement. In contrast, talking about it teaches those who haven't encountered him before how he works. Without that knowledge, one is liable to either get swept up in his aggressive, self-centered reality distortion field or reject him outright as blogspam. Neither response is appropriate. He deserves positive attention for his ideas…

>He deserves positive attention for his ideas and negative attention for the reality distortion field, and these discussions serve that purpose.

Here, here!

Re: The Wolfram Physics Project

#330
post #261

How is what’s mentioned here, not just the old idea of determinism demonstrated or shown from a different perspective? I always thought science was biased toward the assumption that the universe follows basic deterministic rules, and the purpose of doing science was to find the nature of those rules. What I mean by this, is that when we do science, we are trying to determine the nature behind things - are we not? The…

> I have a hard time seeing anything new here. > Just .. [a] new perspective... okie dokie

tomato-tomato.
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