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Mathematica 14

writings.stephenwolfram.com

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Re: Mathematica 14

#91

Post by piaste »

wolverine876 wrote: post #64
markusstrasser wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are people getting hung up on his hubris? If his megalomania gives us Mathematica who cares. It's a phenomenal accomplishment. It can, out of the box, do hundreds of things that'd take you weeks in python/julia/etc or would be entirely impossible for most in other systems.

> Why are people getting hung up on his hubris? If his megalomania gives us Mathematica who cares. We've had some bad results taking that approach recently - which we really should have anticipated, with millenia-old stories warning us about it. For one thing, megalomaniacs tend to be frauds (perhaps because, to be a megalomaniac, it's necessary to lie to yourself); maybe Mathematica will turn out to be the FTX, or T…

> maybe Mathematica will turn out to be the FTX, or Tesla auto-pilot, or ..., of mathematical software/languages.

You can install Mathematica at any time. It produces graphical output. You can see for yourself what it does, and what it does not do.

If Wolfram were making claims about a future unreleased version of Mathematica, sure, I would absolutely weigh his ego against those claims. But they are largely irrelevant when it comes to a currently existing and available product. If he were to claim that Mathematica 14 cures cancer, that would deserve eyerolls but it wouldn't tarnish the quality of the software.

Re: Mathematica 14

#92

Post by lispm »

baq wrote: post #81
jampekka wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mathematica has the best CAD capabilities for many/most tasks, but the language is rather horrible. E.g. code can not be commented, the program state is difficult to manage or even reset, it's very tied to the Mathematica "notebook". And it's quite idiosyncratic. I sometimes have to use it where Sympy fails, and every time it's almost constant WTF. And it's very proprietary and very expensive.

Note it's free on the raspberry pi! https://www.wolfram.com/raspberry-pi/ If you have one collecting dust in a drawer, I'd heartily recommend checking it out.

check the license, though.

https://www.wolfram.com/legal/agreements/wolfram-mathematica...

Re: Mathematica 14

#93

Post by clbrmbr »

3abiton wrote: post #87
markusstrasser wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are people getting hung up on his hubris? If his megalomania gives us Mathematica who cares. It's a phenomenal accomplishment. It can, out of the box, do hundreds of things that'd take you weeks in python/julia/etc or would be entirely impossible for most in other systems.

I heard this before, but never asked, what is so special about Mathematica that cannot be done by other softwares?

You should give it a spin. It’s an incredibly comprehensive Computer Algebra System with all the batteries included…. No, with a small nuclear reactor in the box.

I’m just sad that I don’t have access anymore after college, being too cheap to pay for a license.

Re: Mathematica 14

#94

Post by EasyMark »

zvmaz wrote: post #77
dang wrote: post #120

[stub for offtopicness]

It maybe be irrational, but the absolute arrogance of the author is off-putting and makes me reluctant to use any of his creations (which may be great I don't deny). I may have developed a heuristic that tells me to be very suspicious of people that are so sure and full of themselves as to become dangerous because they can be spectacularly wrong. It may have stemmed from the pandemic... So, sure, you are smart and cl…

He's actually very intelligent and has a record of producing a very successful and well loved product by many. He did things on his own terms and I can respect him for it, even if he would probably annoy the hell out of me in real life if we were just grabbing dinner.

Re: Mathematica 14

#95

Post by phforms »

zvmaz wrote: post #77
dang wrote: post #120

[stub for offtopicness]

It maybe be irrational, but the absolute arrogance of the author is off-putting and makes me reluctant to use any of his creations (which may be great I don't deny). I may have developed a heuristic that tells me to be very suspicious of people that are so sure and full of themselves as to become dangerous because they can be spectacularly wrong. It may have stemmed from the pandemic... So, sure, you are smart and cl…

I recommend to watch some of his regular livestreams on Twitch [1], where I have learned that he is also a quite humble, honest and kind person. Albeit one who likes to hear himself talk (and is aware of that), but I also really enjoy his ramblings on science somehow.

With all the things he has accomplished and his competence across different fields, I don’t mind him being arrogant sometimes. He is working in the area of fundamentals of science, so of course there will be bold claims made - anyone can judge for themself if they hold water.

Science in institutions is often stuck in its entrenched paths and few people dare (or cannot afford) to step outside and try new things, especially across different fields. I believe people like Wolfram, who have earned the knowledge and experience to be able to make a serious attempt on advancing science in new and different ways, are a very valuable resource for humanity, even if they may not succeed.

[1]: https://livestreams.stephenwolfram.com

Re: Mathematica 14

#96

Post by tempodox »

Mathematica is what I thought a computer would be like before I could really use one: A tool for arithmetics and math. Instead we get text processing, kitten photos and porn videos. Not that I have anything against either of these, but it was still a mild shock to find that the `ln` command does not, by a long shot, compute the natural logarithm in Unix. OK, even Mathematica makes me alias `Ln` to `Log`. So much for the principle of least surprise. Still, given that you need extra software to make your computer actually compute, Mathematica is my tool of choice.

Re: Mathematica 14

#97

Post by [deleted] »

tromp wrote: post #90
sampo wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> code can not be commented Mathematica has a C-like syntax for comments (* this is a comment *) but it doesn't have C++ style comments // This is a C++ comment

Actually those are Pascal-like comments. Pascal uses (* ... *) for arbitrary comments as well as { ... } for single line comments.

[deleted]

Re: Mathematica 14

#98

Post by jampekka »

sampo wrote: post #83
jampekka wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mathematica has the best CAD capabilities for many/most tasks, but the language is rather horrible. E.g. code can not be commented, the program state is difficult to manage or even reset, it's very tied to the Mathematica "notebook". And it's quite idiosyncratic. I sometimes have to use it where Sympy fails, and every time it's almost constant WTF. And it's very proprietary and very expensive.

> code can not be commented Mathematica has a C-like syntax for comments (* this is a comment *) but it doesn't have C++ style comments // This is a C++ comment

I stand corrected. For some reason I hadn't figured this out earlier even though I tried to find it.

Re: Mathematica 14

#99

Post by agumonkey »

Qem wrote: post #88
agumonkey wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never really got what made people so allergic to Wolfram. After the many outrages online I tried to dig and I never found anything shocking. There's not too many mention of "I" or too many self flattering hyperboles.. so I don't know.

> I never really got what made people so allergic to Wolfram. After the many outrages online I tried to dig and I never found anything shocking For me it was trying to pass his employees work as if it were his own, through NDAs and lawsuits, like happened in this case: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_110 https://www.complex-systems.com/abstracts/v15_i01_a01/ We only know this case because the employee fought bac…

Oh interesting.

Re: Mathematica 14

#100

Post by Qem »

agumonkey wrote: post #99
Qem wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never really got what made people so allergic to Wolfram. After the many outrages online I tried to dig and I never found anything shocking For me it was trying to pass his employees work as if it were his own, through NDAs and lawsuits, like happened in this case: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_110 https://www.complex-systems.com/abstracts/v15_i01_a01/ We only know this case because the employee fought bac…

Oh interesting.

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13961947
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