An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
wolframphysics.org
An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
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Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#2This is a good introduction to it by Stephen Wolfram himself[0].
[0]: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-h...
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#3This is a good introduction to it by Stephen Wolfram himself[0]. [0]: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-h...
Does anyone understand this theory? When I read through it and listened to his talk, it sounded like a bunch of different ideas stitched together without an underlying explanation.
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#4This is a good introduction to it by Stephen Wolfram himself[0]. [0]: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-h...
Does anyone understand this theory? When I read through it and listened to his talk, it sounded like a bunch of different ideas stitched together without an underlying explanation.
It's like string theory - a framework with tons of free parameters which will never produce a coherent physical theory, but you can always write a paper that contains a promise of explaining any observation with the right fine-tuning of some parameters (the promise will never be fulfilled, of course).
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#5This is a good introduction to it by Stephen Wolfram himself[0]. [0]: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-h...
What makes it "good"?
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#6Before people get too excited about this, note that Wolfram has been on about his own fundamental theory of everything for some time, and the wider physics community does not take it seriously. His book 'A New Kind of Science' has him taking credit for others' discoveries going back to Turing. Here are two recent critiques of this work:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-critic...
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#7Away from the fact that this is not taken seriously by the physics community. This is the first time we have a chance to use crypto to support a fundamental physics research \s [1]
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does anyone understand this theory? When I read through it and listened to his talk, it sounded like a bunch of different ideas stitched together without an underlying explanation.
It's like string theory - a framework with tons of free parameters which will never produce a coherent physical theory, but you can always write a paper that contains a promise of explaining any observation with the right fine-tuning of some parameters (the promise will never be fulfilled, of course).
It is utterly unlike string theory.
String theory is a very rigid coherent theory. It has produced plenty of deep mathematical insights. I personally don't believe that it describes our universe, but it is possible to calculate its properties.
Wolframs "Theory" is a bunch of relatively conventional ideas (by high energy physics theory standards), tied together by wishful thinking and speculation. In parts it seems almost possible to show that the ideas are actually contradictory. It is only saved by being to vague to fail coherence checks.
It is, to use the old cliche, not even wrong.
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#9All: please let's not repeat the usual comments about Wolfram himself. They were a cliché on HN already a decade ago*, and many years before that on the web at large.
It's a good test for the community whether we can focus on what's new/different/interesting here and resist the temptation to noise.
* (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...)
Re: An approach to the fundamental theory of physics
#10Are there any well respect physicists or research groups independent of Wolfram's group who are taking this seriously or collaborating with Wolfram Physics project?
I would expect something like "an here is Max Planck Institute for Physics collaborating with Wolfram Physics research project on ...". Or something of that nature. At least after all these years.