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We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

writings.stephenwolfram.com

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Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#171

Post by m12k »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #142
tokai wrote: post #120

It's interesting with the sycophant outrage over criticism of Wolfram. With arguments ala "criticise his work not his person". But if you actually follow his work (scientific work, not his business) it is clear that there is a lot to critique, but not in a useful sense. Scholarly reviews of A New Kind of Science were universally negative. The usefulness of what he proposes is doubtful and it is unoriginal. He is unab…

With HN's obsession with “founders” of startups, it's perhaps not surprising that Wolfram gets so much sympathy here. It's hero worship. I think Wolfram is a victim of his own success. His achievements in software have let him avoid the necessary humility in being an academic.

> that Wolfram gets so much sympathy here.

Are we reading the same comments? My impression is that 80%-90% are negative toward him.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#172

Post by xtiansimon »

d--b wrote: post #166
DantesKite wrote: post #73

Man these are some low-quality comments. You’d think Wolfram was torturing gerbils or something. I don’t mind criticisms of my favorite thinkers. I enjoy watching someone being taken to task in the battle of ideas so to speak, but apparently something about Wolfram just rubs people the wrong way, because they seem to lose the ability to make cogent arguments after reading him. As a simple example of what a healthy di…

Oh come on! We call him delusional cause he has lost all humility. He is utterly convinced that he discovered the underlying mechanism of literally everything from physics to eceonomics. Delusion of grandeur is a well-known psychological condition, and no matter what you think of the science, it's hard to argue that Wolfram doesn't have it. Why can't he just say: "hey I've got this idea, it's crazy, but you know what…

How does his ego effect anyone who doesn’t work for him? I read most of the announcement and he’s promising research papers and lecture/teaching materials. That’s good, no?

Wolfram’s over the top next level ego, to be sure. But he’s on the side of science and reason, so he’s our ego-maniac.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#173

Post by Pilottwave »

wildmanx wrote: post #147
DantesKite wrote: post #73

Man these are some low-quality comments. You’d think Wolfram was torturing gerbils or something. I don’t mind criticisms of my favorite thinkers. I enjoy watching someone being taken to task in the battle of ideas so to speak, but apparently something about Wolfram just rubs people the wrong way, because they seem to lose the ability to make cogent arguments after reading him. As a simple example of what a healthy di…

He is not just "creating a research institute". He basically claims to have solved all of science. Case in point: Yesterday he streamed a "History of Science and Technology Q&A" session. [1] Is it about the history of science and technology? No! It's a sales pitch for his new institute! As if he is the singularity that all of science and technology have culminated in. So obviously when talking about history of scienc…

>Stephen Wolfram hosts a live and unscripted Ask Me Anything about the history of science and technology for all ages.

I dont get why people wanna frame wolfram so badly as a negative arrogant actor.

He is answering viewer questions, his subscriber audience is ofcourse asking certain wolfram physics related questions. Timestamps: 00:00 Start stream 1:49 SW begins talking and introduces Wolfram Institute 22:58 Do you have a sense of the skills that an incoming fellow to the Wolfram Institute will have? What would effective preparation for Institute-type work be? 29:23 What is the emerald functionality that was mentioned for biological/cellular computational explorations? 32:55 and what about around the world overseas and in other countries? 33:05 You get some wonderful things out of pursuing science just for the sake of it. There are pejorative terms for this, like 'fishing trips' and 'stamp collecting', but such pursuits led to PCR technology just because someone was curious about thermophile bacteria 44:53 activity overseas & in other countries in regards to outreach programs in cooperation with education systems...you were mentioning some campaigns you had going on 51:03 Will there be more active development on the computational capabilities of Wolfram Mathematica with the Wolfram Institute? 52:53 British physics is more Geometry guild vs American physics is more Group theory and particle physics Guild 54:08 What is your opinion about experimental mathematics and its relationship with classical "mainstream" mathematics? 1:17:05 I often hear that science needs philosophy to justify it. What are some historical examples of this? 1:32:27 i think in a lot of places in history the role of academic pursuit was that a philosopher's role, but academic pursuit has attained a large amount of "division of labor" 1:34:22 Philosophy and Mathematical logic are starting to overlap more. Tarskis Semantics relates Formal logic to topology just like math and computer langauges 1:36:22 Are there inherently philosophical ideas (i.e. cannot be turned into a scientific one like the question of motion)? Can we distinguish them outright without knowing future scientific development?

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#175

Post by spindle »

morelisp wrote: post #130
DantesKite wrote: post #73

Man these are some low-quality comments. You’d think Wolfram was torturing gerbils or something. I don’t mind criticisms of my favorite thinkers. I enjoy watching someone being taken to task in the battle of ideas so to speak, but apparently something about Wolfram just rubs people the wrong way, because they seem to lose the ability to make cogent arguments after reading him. As a simple example of what a healthy di…

> Calling him delusional or a fraud is Wittengtein’s Ruler in action: It says far more about you than it does about him. Do you think it's impossible for him to be a skilled mathematician and delusional? Do you think smart, successful business owners are incapable of committing fraud? The interminable negative reactions to anything Wolfram does are boring , but the counter-impulse to "he's done good math, so this can…

You might like to make a top-level comment about this. I think some of the people who see excessive negativity in attitudes towards Wolfram don't know about the plagiarism.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#176

Post by webmobdev »

underdeserver wrote: post #148
DantesKite wrote: post #73

Man these are some low-quality comments. You’d think Wolfram was torturing gerbils or something. I don’t mind criticisms of my favorite thinkers. I enjoy watching someone being taken to task in the battle of ideas so to speak, but apparently something about Wolfram just rubs people the wrong way, because they seem to lose the ability to make cogent arguments after reading him. As a simple example of what a healthy di…

My problem with Wolfram is that every time I hear him talk or read him, I end up spending 15-20 minutes and come out the other end confused. I studied physics in my undergrad, I have a graduate degree in math, I've shipped large features on planet-scale systems. I'm no genius, certainly nowhere close to Dr. Wolfram, but I don't think I'm far from your average HN reader in reading comprehension ability. I've read 35 p…

Thank you for posting this - I read the article too and was left feeling somewhat "dumb" and confused by all the scientific and market speak babble thrown in there. I was doubting my own intelligence for a bit there ... :)

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#177

Post by CrazyStat »

esperent wrote: post #71
teruakohatu wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Practically it can lead to better encryption like I linked above, superior understanding and prediction of weather This is the problem. Maybe it will, but as of yet nobody has figured out a practical application beyond "helping us appreciate nature" (replace nature with any chaotic system). We are pretty good with weather prediction and getting better all the time. The fundamental problem is the chaotic nature. CA…

> This is the problem. Maybe it will, but as of yet nobody has figured out a practical application beyond "helping us appreciate nature" (replace nature with any chaotic system). Why is this a problem? Doing maths purely for its own sake is as valid and useful as painting a picture, or cooking a delicious meal instead of just eating dry bread. If that's not good enough for you, there are plenty of examples of maths t…

> Why is this a problem? Doing maths purely for its own sake is as valid and useful as painting a picture, or cooking a delicious meal instead of just eating dry bread.

It's a problem because Wolfram named his book A New Kind of Science, not A New Kind of Doing Maths Purely for Its Own Sake.

If Wolfram just went around saying "hey, cellular automata are fun and interesting for their own sake` he wouldn't get the hate he does.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#178

Post by tokai »

m12k wrote: post #171
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With HN's obsession with “founders” of startups, it's perhaps not surprising that Wolfram gets so much sympathy here. It's hero worship. I think Wolfram is a victim of his own success. His achievements in software have let him avoid the necessary humility in being an academic.

> that Wolfram gets so much sympathy here. Are we reading the same comments? My impression is that 80%-90% are negative toward him.

The three top comments here are positive.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#179

Post by logicchains »

xtiansimon wrote: post #172
d--b wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on! We call him delusional cause he has lost all humility. He is utterly convinced that he discovered the underlying mechanism of literally everything from physics to eceonomics. Delusion of grandeur is a well-known psychological condition, and no matter what you think of the science, it's hard to argue that Wolfram doesn't have it. Why can't he just say: "hey I've got this idea, it's crazy, but you know what…

How does his ego effect anyone who doesn’t work for him? I read most of the announcement and he’s promising research papers and lecture/teaching materials. That’s good, no? Wolfram’s over the top next level ego, to be sure. But he’s on the side of science and reason, so he’s our ego-maniac.

>But he’s on the side of science and reason, so he’s our ego-maniac.

Humility and the ability to recognise and accept when we're wrong is one of the fundamental characteristics of science. People with big egos are the enemies of science.

Re: We’ve got a science opportunity overload: Launching the Wolfram Institute

#180

Post by kalimanzaro »

https://youtu.be/F3hPvusB0ds

For those who are turned off by "cerebritiesh" (pronounced the way Taleb fan of Wolfie would, or perhaps Sean Connery if he had the chance to meet the old dog in person)

But who secretly indulge in Nobel laureate fanboyism

Here is a video of 't Hooft talking about cell autos & quanta. I don't understand it but boy am I happy to see properly labelled figures for self-styled adults.

Dutch prof has the homely charm of mashed potatoes which goes well with dreams of Illinois corn fields (near the Wolfie homebase) should you fall asleep

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