Stephen Wolfram: Complexity and the Fabric of Reality | Lex Fridman Podcast

[@lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - ROKA: roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order - FightCamp: joinfightcamp.com/lex to get free shipping - Onnit: lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off - Indeed: indeed.com/lex to get $75 credit - Fundrise: fundrise.com/lex 0:57 - What is complexity 13:58 - Randomness in the universe 18:19 - The Wolfram Physics Project 30:21 - Space and time are discrete 42:26 - Quantum mechanics and hypergraphs 51:40 - What is intelligence 1:02:23 - Computational equivalence 1:10:43 - What it is like to be a cellular automata 1:25:07 - Making prediction vs explanations 1:38:27 - Why does the universe exist 1:44:08 - The universe and rulial space 1:52:51 - Does an atom have consciousness 2:03:17 - Why does our universe exist 2:11:48 - What is outside the ruliad 2:22:22 - Automated proof systems 2:38:17 - Multicomputation for biology 2:56:48 - Cardano NFT collaboration with Wolfram Alpha 3:03:48 - Global theory of economics

[@陳家豪-b8z]

Could you invite Dean Radin to your podcast?

[@sford2044]

Thank you for sharing this conversation.

[@yestin3509]

@@zesanurrahman6778 Moors law was invented by Intel as a "roadmap" to keep investors happy as they achieved milestones. Standard industry practice, but not an actual law of the universe

[@deleted01]

Is the impulse for computer scientists to talk about cellular automata an emergent phenomenon?

[@Michael-tq6xm]

Lex, there is a little talked of model of the universe in which the big bang and the steady state universe from quantum fluctuation are both true reasons for everything we see in our universe. have you studied this model at all.

[@Custodian123]

You know you are living in a golden age when you can gain exposure, for zero cost, at any moment (in my case before bed in my boxers), to the highest quality people in the world. Thank you Lex, you have exposed me to the most amazing people on the planet.

[@lucasortiz6826]

💯❤

[@vangeest]

Amen

[@justindunlap6009]

James Lindsay is viewing this phenomena as the second enlightenment where knowledge has gone from a feudalist style institutional distribution (Eric weinsteins GIN) to an actual free market place of ideas where anyone can access them. Great time to be alive

[@TheEvdoggy]

Yeah and be forced to take a dangerous vaccine every 6 months. We live in a utopia.

[@dogbackwards33]

[@furbs9999]

Can we please take a moment to appreciate just what a fantastic interviwer Lex is? Great questions, great follow up questions and always giving the guest the time and room to fully anwser. Bravo Lex.

[@simonfilemon1066]

👏👏👏😎

[@Petrov3434]

And too many interruptions that switch to another topic

[@lastfreegeneration984]

@@Petrov3434 yeah exactly, so jarring how he randomly diverts the flow. Lex is best when his is just smiling silently with his stoner eyes

[@Rookgnar]

I disagree. I think he's better than you can ever give him credit for. You and your 149 amend

[@spiral2012]

This type of interview is exactly why Lex is the best.

[@Hyperbolic_G]

I've stopped watching most of lex's content after seeing him sink into the beast that joe rogan has become. Those of us maturing past rogan's new antics are looking for the type of nonsense that wolfram spouts -- not the pure insanity the jre has fallen into

[@mrcontroversy222]

@@Hyperbolic_G why bring Rogan into this?

[@Hyperbolic_G]

If Lex is just becoming one of Joe's lackeys meant to captivate the fleeing listeners, I don't want to be part of it. You can see it happening

[@lolgamez9171]

@@Hyperbolic_G ight bro

[@diodorussiculus2186]

@@Hyperbolic_G I agree with you, the only thing we're missing now is a serious primatological, biopsychosocialogical deep-dive into the fluid dynamics of chimp balls.

[@nickgreene2971]

Thank you Lex so much for never dumbing down your conversations this is one of the few places on KZbin I can come to get the as full as possible picture of real theories, not some almost for children over-simplification. Did I understand everything discussed here? Not fully, but I really appreciate the chance to try and see where the gaps in my knowledge are. Keep up the great podcast man!

[@Trainasaurus]

Agree.

[@MinnesotaGuy822]

Totally agree. If all the teaching a person gets is dumbed down to a young child's level, their brain might be comfortable and happy with not having to work, but they will never grow. Growth requires challenge. [Edit: fixed a spelling error.]

[@bettysue8671]

I love how he tries to get them to spill the beans on what they know yet can't tell 😈

[@BillAnt]

Let me dumb it down a bit "I think, therefore I am" ~René Descartes~ :)

[@paulmeloche214]

Listening to Wolfram speak is like trying to drink out of a firehose. Great interview.

[@loveistheonlything3626]

Made me laugh!

[@johntitor129]

READ ISN'T ANY BETTER, take it as it comes... Take line any line divide into three, pick the two closest cuts (.333333. or real time , .333+.333+.334=) move forward , this is now new line easy peezy...

[@johntitor129]

@@loveistheonlything3626 me 2

[@michealcherrington6531]

with both nostrils. What a RUSH!

[@lloydlivsey6261]

Good one lol☝️

[@astilen5647]

I cant multitask and listen to Stephen, i miss one second and he's a multiverse away

[@bettysue8671]

I like to keep a notebook besides me while listening. I catch something, freeze it, jolt it down. Google it up and start scribbling notes then continue on, pressing play and listening/watching the podcast.

[@revolution6661]

​@@bettysue8671you're basically studying the podcast, not just listening to it😂

[@bl8de3]

There's just one universe. You definitely did not listen :D

[@BillAnt]

Same here, I was paying my child support bill, but then I got high on Stephen's talk and forgot to mail the check. ha-ha jk

[@louispare4147]

Stephen is on another level. I could probably listen to this specific podcast everyday and still learn something new each time. Lots of wiki pages to go through too. Thanks Lex!

[@jujubaclothing]

This podcast is so fucking dense, i'm learning new words.

[@vareylmorvain6246]

Ppl without e you w your rootowow toupee Ritter you eo IPO teep Oqo pretty 0p0 pop per PGu off

[@gudasol]

49:49 I have compiled a fundamental model of consciousness, to read it google 7-11 model of consciousness, there's a free PDF available + articles online, about a 19 page read. Agree with your comment 100%

[@SB-lc2vd]

Stephen Wolfram is practically a reincarnation of Nikola Tesla. IMO,This is the greatest compliment a scientist can have. Thank you Lex for creating this podcast. Even with degrees MechEng/Physics/Anesthesia, I find myself trying to keep up with the speakers !!

[@JakesOnline]

​@alanberg7414wrong

[@Pat315]

Those aren't difficult degrees so no one expects you to keep up.

[@kezzla]

I listen to these to go to sleep, then have wild dreams. With conversations like this, I can never tell how much is dream and how much is the conversation.

[@yipperdeyip]

Fking same lmao Going to sleep rn

[@schuey999]

Agreed Sir, It's wild to consider that while most of us sit in cubes and have meaningless 'careers' just trying to pay the bills, someone is deeply thinking about these things.

[@sundarramanp3057]

@@schuey999 totally!

[@stanzapalny2123]

And I thought I was being crazy doing this. The sleep quality isn't as good though, as you're analyzing the conversation at some level even during the sleep.

[@cipi432]

@@stanzapalny2123 Yes, that’s true. But it is very interesting.

[@Ocodo]

I feel that Stephen Wolfram is one step away from getting out of the matrix.

[@santerisatama5409]

It does look that way, looking from outside of the matrix. :)

[@punksk8a29]

Too bad that both are computational, Stephen will always be one step away.

[@Ocodo]

@@punksk8a29 Indeed! At least maybe he can send an email there with his universal computational language.

[@wturber]

If he one day simply goes missing .... OTOH, maybe those running the matrix decide to simply tweek his algorithms or simply replace him with a similar Stephan Wolfram.

[@user-ph2jf4ji1j]

This should be the top comment.

[@JD-ev3po]

Amazing! Lex is literally giving us doctoral classes from the finest professors from around the world. Thank you, Lex!

[@jamesbarlow6423]

Lol. Sure.

[@JD-ev3po]

@@jamesbarlow6423 I wonder why people as yourself make the effort to give such low level responses. Is it arrogance? Is it low awareness level? 🤔

[@jamesbarlow6423]

@@JD-ev3po . If you really believe this type of pop pablem resembles a doctorate or even master'svlevel "class" I genuinely pity your compulsively enhanced ignorance. (American, ryt?😂)

[@maziusclavo8021]

@@JD-ev3po Computational irreducibility

[@JD-ev3po]

@@maziusclavo8021 Interesting. Could you elaborate?

[@teliwandaand7361]

Lex's interviewing skills are underrated. Very few questions, but each one is bang on target. What we are underrating is how much work went into it from Lex's end. He has spend a lifetime to be in a position to understand the things in the way that he does and he has the presence of mind and humility to keep it simple. I think very few people would be able to extract the same kind of richness even if they were to spend four hours talking to Wolfram. Even fewer in a manner that is accessible.

[@robertlunn3678]

Wow! I think he leaves much to be desired. He’s able to get good guest. (Some awful guests too. Aliens and Stanford UFO guys who get isotopes they can’t explain. ) Good example here. He’s trying and confusing the 2nd law of thermodynamics with randomness.

[@OhAncientOne]

@@robertlunn3678 Wow, I didn't know he was interviewing Alien's. Which episode is that ?

[@hanswissmeyer9950]

@@robertlunn3678 I guess you are probably right, but have to think the whole thing over for while. There seem to be brilliant ideas in his roller-coater ride through all kind of scientific disciplines & even if it all turns out to be nonsense, I like how he tries so hard to get his head out of the box.

[@agnidas5816]

@@robertlunn3678 basically he isn't good enough at engineering to have fun doing engineering :P that's why he does media

[@emperorborgpalpatine]

ya lex absolutely destroyed him at 2:07:00. nicely done

[@wulfmountainpath3719]

Great thinker, fascinating communicator and guest. Excellent questions posed. Gratitude Lex.

[@merrylderrickson3147]

You are the only media channel on planet earth that FULLY takes advantage of the internet and it's educational capabilities. Lex, you're a legend.

[@biosurveillance]

Glad to see Stephen on again! Throughly enjoyed the previous conversation.

[@inthefade]

The last one was so good I listened to it three times.

[@saidalas8381]

DAVID SINCLAIR

[@edan626]

My mind just about explodes with insight every time Wolfram makes a point.

[@kenlieck7756]

Solution: Ask him to stop poking you in the eye.

[@FuraficFark]

What happens if every "intelligent" living creature stops observing... Will reality cease to exist?

[@seancharles1595]

@@w花b ...unless all the observing agents were already present but just not in human form yet...

[@VperVendetta1992]

@@FuraficFark Reality itself is its own conscious observer. So no, it doesn't cease to exist because it's observing itself more and more as time passes, and it has always observed itself since it started existing. It started to exist in order to observe itself.

[@Suckwhamfarts-bled]

I feel like I know exactly what he’s saying bc I’ve thought this before at the age of 9 or something 😆 I swear to god , I have this one theory that planets are just atoms at large scale and that’s why our concept of time is warped and this is why infinite multiverse whatever the fuck theory is truly prevalent , which is why I question why we give care to much attention to meaningless things in life . That’s my frustration with this all

[@benjamincastro541]

Lex I don’t think you understand the impact you’re having in the world wide intellectual community. Your podcast is an oasis in the dumpster that internet content has become. Thank you.

[@kraykray9585]

Those of us that matter listen.

[@vincealcazar2870]

Alternative hypothesis: he is fully cognizant. Ample evidence seems to exist.

[@salamjihad3449]

THANK YOU. AND I DIDNT EVEN SAY ANYTHING THAT SMART .

[@theelementair96]

@@kraykray9585 I had GPT3 tell me "The one who knows will care for the one who cares, who knows" or something to that affect, I deleted it because I felt paranoid. You just reminded me of it!

[@kraykray9585]

@@theelementair96 Who is GPT3? What I meant is people need to hold an open mind. By saying "those of us" I was referring to people that don't swallow the pill we are being force fed. "Those of us" think before they act.

[@brianajoseph1260]

I love how no matter what, lex seems to totally understand every concept he hears and he articulates it coherently. Even when questioning it.

[@JoaoRocha-gy8hj]

​@@SiriusSphynxi think he also passed the "mark all squares with traffic lights" test ;)

[@fraktalv]

Wolfram is a legend! Thank you, Lex!

[@Constantinesis]

He is mindblowing! It literally expanded my brain and consciousness!

[@fraktalv]

@@Constantinesis specifically if you listen to it in x2 speed

[@Constantinesis]

@@fraktalv If you want to prove something then try Jonathan Gorard at 2x speed :)))

[@rjd53]

One of the most stunning conversations I've seen. And the first interview with S. Wolfram that let me - to a certain extent of course - understand his ideas. He is explaining things very clearly here. A whole bunch of threads of further ideas can proceed from this.

[@inthefade]

I'm on my fourth listen of this podcast. The other two episodes with Wolfram I listened to 3 times each. What fantastic conversations.

[@Myrslokstok]

I'm 1 h in and I think this by far the best one, its kind of coming togheter in a way we hoped. Even if it wouldn't be true it is absolutly interesting as a philosofy. I tough think its a lot to it.

[@bettysue8671]

​​@@Myrslokstoklex has a ton of interviews which are great. The moment I find one I love, I find another I love just as much!!! I try to get others to watch with me lol but most don't care, or see the lovely juicey secrets these people spill inbetween the lines in their context. Or love the fear in their eyes when they want to broach something yet resist and try to answer yet in a jumble of word salad so to cover their butts. I can sense the fear and love it for some odd primal reason. I watch their body language not just listen...

[@topsunnn]

You are the type of person I would love to meet in life. Good for you, keep being curious!​@@bettysue8671

[@gregt2739]

Thanks!

[@missassembly]

Thanks

[@1vootman]

I always enjoy hearing Stephen, It's amazing how he can deliver an onslaught of complicated ideas in very comprehensive ways.

[@someoneelse777]

I seldom comment, but I have to say the Wolfram episodes are such a treat. The man is bang on point!

[@gladeloy3341]

has enough disciplined learning to remember enough to talk freely of seemingly complex subject matter... and will eventually be proven wrong.lol

[@ApteraEV2024]

​@@gladeloy3341why?

[@Pat315]

Too bad he doesn't fundamentally understand his points enough to be able to articulate it cohesively. He just rambles and can't seem to grasp the entire point he's making.

[@carlborgen]

Lex asks his first question, Stephen: That's not an interesting question! Haha

[@john99776]

Wolfram is great in person, and his 'writings' on the web really help to make things more absorbable.

[@jamescorbett8504]

For the second time in my life I have a treasure box at home, the first was my wife, now I have a box I can open and pull out a precious gem, Joscha Bach, Demis Hassabis, George Hotz, Neil Gershenfeld, and the sparkling Stephen Wolfram. Most of all though, I'm getting the best possible education you get get, when I've always thought I was too under privileged or poor to do anything about. You've changed all that Lex, treasure indeed. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@fullmetalflix5195]

I just worked 12 hours started listening in the shower now im 42 minutes in and my mind absolutey blown. I didnt think i would be able to follow the subject matter as im ignorant of programming and this is a technical conversation between scientist. So glad i listened anyway, lex you are soo good at these conversations now its quite remarkable.

[@nlysts]

Wolfram is also really good at explaining. He has a podcast where he explains science questions to kids at his company channel. And business and start up advice.

[@devfromthefuture506]

When I was 15 I read the Wolfram book a "new science" I could understand only 20% but it was great.

[@theShneeg]

@@mytelevisionisdead ?

[@E0572-e1n]

@@theShneeg it’s a subreddit for people that pretend to be intellectuals. I think that he’s calling out op, but it doesn’t really fit

[@jakobwachter5181]

@@mytelevisionisdead If you're going to try to meme, at least make sure you understand what it is you're doing

[@GamingBlake2002]

I literally just got done re-watching the first two and he's fucking back!

[@inthefade]

The first two are awesome. This one is amazing so far an hour in.

[@lemongavine]

🤣🤣🤣

[@breenaxie4672]

Hahahahaha, I am still on the re-watching process!🤣

[@Fanofjambi]

Wolfram is one of my favourite people to hear from, he has perhaps the most generalised mind on the planet

[@freakyfreak3284]

He's the broadest thinker in the world and of incredible depth. Nassim Nicholas Taleb thought of him as the smartest man.

[@adrianene6344]

Please make sure you have a backup of a backup of a backup of a backup of these level of conversations. This kind of conversation must prevail over the future and it's so important it should never be lost. You're really great as a podcaster, you make people talk with passion about the things they excel. Keep up this very good work!

[@billcowhig5739]

Lex, I have gone deeper and deeper into Stephan Wolfram’s discussions over the past several years, and if one takes a look at his channel they will find hundreds more, but he gave me more in this one lecture than in any I have seen before. Since it’s a couple of years old, that means I have listened to it once before, and failed to grok. An earlier comment drew the analogy of “drinking a sip of water from a firehouse,” which strikes me as totally apt, since Stephan does seem to have far too many ideas inside his head than he can put into coherent words at any given moment. That seems to be his trademark; an over abundance of ideas, most of which are significant contributions to our human body of knowledge. He’s the kind of human to whom should be given an army of scribes and PhDs to follow him around writing down, compactifying, analyzing and improving Stephan Wolfram’s knowledge base, since he is our new Stephan Hawking.

[@BillAnt]

Lex seems to be spaced out on some shrooms, there's no other way to comprehend all this. lol jk

[@funkmonsterjones4753]

When he said that his model applies to other systems, like economics and linguistics, I felt so incredibly validated. Ever since I heard him first on your show Lex, he opened my eyes in ways I never would have expected, I started to see his model everywhere I looked. I saw it in biology (my main passion) I saw it in language, I saw it in businesses, I saw it in technology, I saw it everywhere. Thank you Lex, and ESPECIALLY thank you Stephen, you changed my life forever.

[@newenglandbarbell4647]

Yesssss, thoroughly enjoy a Wolfram + Lex conversation 👌🙌

[@VHenrik007]

I cannot have enough of this man. He is on a whole another level.

[@helloworldpoland]

Stephen Wolfram is one of the greatest minds alive. One of the greatest scientist the Ruliad has genrated for us so far. Just can't stop listening to him.

[@DarthKoller]

This conversation is like being on a trip. I dont understand whats going on, im super interested and some how we keep coming back around to why the universe exists. This conversation itself is an example of the universe just fractals on fractals on fractals of ideas lol i love it

[@JimmyDShea]

Perfectly summed up

[@johnmaniscalco8835]

the fact that you summed up this 3+ hour quasi-symposium about understanding some of the most fundamental concepts in the universe to taking a bunch of acid….. idk man i feel sorry for you..

[@Velopb]

Hands down best podcast I've ever listened to. Thank you.

[@Innovate22]

26:00 Trying to visualize the scale of Wolfram’s idea of our base reality being “atoms of space” at 10^-100 meters is utterly mind melting as they are 90 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE smaller than the length of a hydrogen atom which clock in at 10^-10 meters. For perspective the diameter of the entire observable universe (93 Billion Light Years) is 10^26 meters which is only 36 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE larger than a hydrogen atom. If this doesn’t blow your mind, check your pulse.

[@santerisatama5409]

However "small" you imagine your Plank atoms/units, where measurability ends... the idea of discontinuous discreteness presupposes and exists in the reality of continuous measuring.

[@MyTardisGoWhoosh]

I dont understand a word you said....damn I'm dumb.

[@eruiluvatar236]

@@MyTardisGoWhoosh He said something like the difference in size between the universe and an hydrogen atom is ridiculously small compared to the difference in size between an hydrogen atom and an atom of space. To magnify an atom of space to the size of an hydrogen atom you would need to multiply the size of the atom of space by the differences in size beetween and hydrogen atom and the universe almost two times.

[@MyTardisGoWhoosh]

@@eruiluvatar236 does that mean theirs infinite amount of universes?

[@DingDongDaddyFromDumas933]

@@MyTardisGoWhoosh Yes I believe so.

[@nzwodzwo1712]

i was waiting for the 3rd round. this is so deep man.. i love how he finally approaches the philosophical questions and i think most of his assumptions point into the right direction.

[@fightingowenmcdonagh6734]

I have listended to this 3 times already and somehow each time it blows my mind...... Can i just add from my own personal experience with a lot of psychedelic mainly Lsd and Dmt that a lot of the descriptions Stephen layed out resonated deeply with me especially the space and time beeing discreet part 🤯.

[@sethrenville798]

The most interesting thing, I think, is that he essentially describes the breakthrough DMT experience in his description of moving through rulial space, in that your experience of all portions of reality begins to vary wildly

[@sanders555]

SAME!

[@user-dj9iu2et3r]

This one was way over my head. It’s amazing Lex can follow along.

[@jessdunaway8423]

Lex thank you so much. I knew nothing about this topic. Now I'm going down webs the rabbit hole. Once again you've enriched my life. Well done

[@Mercury6_]

Lex your questions are incredible and your ability to quickly set up a series of subquestions to organize the answer of a bigger question is elite

[@cyberbiosecurity]

sir, is it just your spontaneously formulated opinion, or they say like this?

[@rexis188]

I think he has great questions, but I wished he asked them one at a time. I think a series of questions can be confusing or interrupting to the guest

[@MrNiceHk]

I have never enjoyed something so much that I understood so little. Truly wonderful, I have listened to this multiple times already. Bravo, such meaningful discussions. Its so pleasant to observer two decent smart people pull at ideas, disagree, pivot, agree, disagree, acknowledge lack on knowing without a single shred of need to be right about anything. They should teach discourse in schools to children.

[@RobbC.]

3hrs 40mins of words wherein I probably understood about 40 seconds of it, including the intro and outro. But I would happily explode my brain and listen to it again. The world needs these people to be all over our screens as much as possible. Thanks Lex.

[@ni4694]

You have a problem then pro 😂 I know you're over exaggerating but 40 seconds lol

[@s.craigzahler8670]

Great stuff. The 'atoms of space' and time dilation explanations are FASCINATING. It's surprising that only a small fraction of viewers who watch something so loaded with brilliant ideas and hypotheses bother to hit the 'Like' icon. My top three favorite guests on Lex's show are Wolfram, Wolfram, and Wolfram.

[@DrDress]

Wolfram is insanely smart. And he has gotten so good at explaining his ideas.

[@Misanthrope84]

He's so smart I didn't understand 90% of the podcast.

[@DrDress]

@@Misanthrope84 That must have been a long 3.5 hours.

[@straaths]

he sounds like a priest in a church, lot of words which can mean pretty much anything. like corporate gibrish slang. Maybe you'll say I am stupid and probably I am but he is not good in explaining. read comments, people dont get half of what he is talking about. he might be super smart but his explanations are vague

[@richard975]

Lex you hold the world in your hands with your podcasts

[@ninadesianti9587]

The best interview!!! Thank you!!! I feel like that I could leave the world peacefully now as I have been blessed to be able to listen to this beautiful explanation of the phenomena we observe in our universe, of our consciousness. For the same reason, I completely discarded the concept of monads, but with the new explanation, it’s the most logical explanation and it will end the argument I had with the monad believers.

[@jethrot100]

Steven has given me so much to process, and I am only one third in. I have been looking for answers and explanations most of my life, at least 65 years. I am resigned to never knowing, not in this lifetime anyway. I find it somehow reasuring Steven is asking a few of the same questions I do.

[@BillAnt]

The philosopher René Descartes said "I think, therefore I am" pretty much describes our existence. A piece of rock can't say that. ;)

[@geoffquartermainebastin9302]

I hadn't listened long enough. They started to go there. Kudos.

[@MrSharkman19]

I can’t get enough of Lord Stephen, hoping to see more of him in the future

[@TheGiantGi]

This podcast was amazing... Lex you created something that I had never thought will exist in this world... you took the most interesting pieces of knowledge out of dark corners of labs and rooms of the universities and provided it to public...this was a complicated podcast but it went like a breeze for me... This took my excitement and washed away the boredom that one gets from a tiring class in a university.....I just want to ask you Lex... If you read this comment...Please ... Please, continue this journey... I hope I meet you some day ... love and respect my brother.

[@stephenferguson6945]

Eloquently written comment.

[@alienbrett]

These Stephen Wolfram ones are the best- super high quality conversation

[@steveunderhill5935]

Lex seems contemptuous or bored

[@graxxor]

Nah. Just high af.

[@usfghost]

Get both stephen wolfram and joscha bach on the same episode, that would be mind blowing

[@answerth]

Rulial space is super interesting and relatable to me. I've imagined this before - if you're in a different universe / dimension / perhaps inside a black hole / under the influence of a different physics context, how the universe could be completely different with different laws of physics. One way I thought of it is how we have the visible light spectrum which is comparatively small to the entire identified light spectrum. In a similar fashion, the entire identified light spectrum could be an infinitesimally small fraction of a larger possible light spectrum on a different scale, but it requires different energetic forms to identify. Like a fish doesn't know it's under water, our access to this rulial space could be defined by the space itself and make it hard or impossible to identify further possible behavior of the world around us without radically altering the energetic context of the world in which we're making the observations.

[@nickpreyma7374]

One of the only podcasts I have ever listened from start to finish. Thank you so much for having such thought provoking discussions with brilliant minds.

[@je767]

The last time this fella was on was what got me into Lex! I love hearing this guy talk about his ideas. And his Alpha program sure helped me get through some old math classes back in the day! Great times.

[@Almostcool1]

Thank-you. This is historic. I appreciate both of you.

[@friendlylaser]

Watching this episode for a third time and enjoying it thoroughly. Wolfram is such a nice person.

[@Simsoooooon]

Too much information for my brain to handle all at once, infinitely interesting. Deserves more than a singular listen

[@joedoe2770]

This might be the best podcast episode yet

[@anthonyarmour1812]

Lex, you ask great questions! It's as if you're mining the great ideas out of geniuses. Certainly wonderful to watch and hear.

[@michaelcoombs7048]

Douglas Adams was really ahead of his time with the whole computational equivalence thing.

[@ToniGospodin]

amazing podcast. you need to closely listen and understand every word becuase if you get just a little bit distracted you don't follow the topic anymore . this is a goldmine of useful thoughts and informations . Thanks Lex and Stephen

[@Wise4HarvestTime]

I would love to hear from Stephen Wolfram in 2024. I used his Mathematica decades ago. He's absolutely amazing! What is his progress of thought in the past 2 years? Wolfram is a polymath!

[@sirilandgren]

You know what would be soo awesome? Something that would fill an empty niche in science/philosophy media? A podcast that's not about interviewing one guest, but pitting two guests "against" each other, in the same long format. For example, the part about consciousness made me YEARN for dragging Dan Dennett into the room and finding out what an encounter between him and Wolfram would be like.

[@richarddevenezia8186]

They used to be called debates.

[@7447744774477447]

Guests might tend to avoid confrontation. Just watch Foucault vs Chomsky debate for example

[@Mutantcy1992]

@@richarddevenezia8186 Debates are a trash medium

[@user-pf5xq3lq8i]

Yes, let's introduce ego and fear because that will improve th...oh no, don't bother.

[@scarybarry2275]

Lex has the best podcast on the planet! Keep it up Lex!

[@rogerfreeman6787]

I'm making my way through this, around 2 hours now, and I'm thinking to myself that this is one of the best podcasts I've ever heard.

[@rogerfreeman6787]

I'm assuming that this is also available in podcast form.

[@barrynash239]

Wow. This is an amazingly deep discussion of reality.

[@astralarts4918]

Lex you did a great job of navigating through a labyrinth of complex ideas. Dr. Wolfram was all over the place here but you kept things pretty much on track even though the train clearly left the rails a few times.

[@john99776]

I disagree. Wolfram needs to set up a few pre-explanations in order to answer questions. Lex interrupted him too much, and Wolfram is gracious and always tried to answer each interruption. This is what derailed the conversation.

[@shaneharvey1026]

Lex, nobody that I’m aware of is willing to do long format podcasts with guests speaking at this level of sophistication. You dare to assume some audience will engage with this, even if not fully equipped to follow it all, and get value. Please keep this up. It is a rare offering that few have the ability to bring to the public at large.

[@mrgreatdude2]

Agreed!

[@ATSF854]

ive come back to rewatch parts of this like a dozen times now and bought one of his books. such a good podcast

[@udoyxyz]

I love this guy. He always says "It's interesting." "It's embarrassing". Just love him 😍

[@DiegoRodriguez-vx6ys]

its fascinating

[@udoyxyz]

@@DiegoRodriguez-vx6ys yeah that too 🤣

[@stewartgregerson4159]

I've rewatched this so many times that KZbin suggests it to me every night no matter what I'm watching now lol.

[@ddd777a5]

I don’t get tired of listening to theee conversations. I even listen to them to go to sleep or driving or walking. I love they are long and non rushed.

[@AlexanderLouizosLouizos]

A rare soul and mind with very innovative novel concepts. Thank you for sharing

[@ervinperetz5973]

I'm so grateful that -- in addition to all his inventiveness and discovery -- Stephen Wolfram is so generous with his time towards the public.

[@dogbackwards33]

I listen to your podcasts when I bike and drive. So appreciated Lex.

[@dogbackwards33]

@M J Abundantly grateful.

[@nancycm]

That first 20 minutes confirmed what I learned observing and taking part in a family dynamic around caregiving for a relative at the end of life. “Slices of reducibility in an ocean of irreducibility” describes that dynamic perfectly. Def applicable to many realms! Glad to have a name for it.

[@thoughtgarden8090]

Dude I have tried to listen to this podcast at least four times and it's just so dense even though you guys do a great job of simplifying. Honestly, I think that's great.We need more intellectual conversat great work

[@macicoinc9363]

This is by far my favorite theory of everything, it is so creative and explains literally everything, including things like consciousness, so neatly and almost trivially. He blew my mind with the simple explanation of time dilation. Made me think, under this model, if different perceptions of how quickly time is passing are partially caused by computational overhead. Things like time passing by quicker when you are doing something enjoyable versus it passing slower when you are bored. Apparent slowing of time under hallucinogenic drugs or speeding up under other stimulant drugs. Situations like near death experiences or other intense situations where people enter flight or fight mode. Lastly, the feeling of time passing quicker when you are older relative to when you were younger.

[@ZAFFER8]

I think this would the the equivalent of time dilation for the brain system and our mind's sequentialisation attempts. Time dilation of computational systems appears like a wide reaching phenomena

[@gladeloy3341]

When you are young, the days are short and the years are long. When you are older, the days are long and the years are short.

[@18_rabbit]

@@gladeloy3341 though often true-- i have also experienced something like the opposite, or essentially, in later yrs, time becoming extraordinarily stretched out, partly due to difficulty, but also learning and trying to make up for lost time when young. So i think this is variable among ppl, and can be manipulated by us, if we're willing to, let's say, really explore things in ourselves, really do the real inventory around early 40's, and rebuild the engine if necessary. Those typical time experiences w/ age, are not universal, and that is the most interesting thing really, ie variability among us.

[@pauldavidhaynes8243]

It explains so much, I had a realisation that maybe sleep/dreams are when we update/build our next level us. Thats why they are so bizarre with splashes of memories in crazy order. I've had so many ideas every time I listen to this podcast. We are watching the next einstein revolution i think.

[@tommitchell1662]

What an uneffing believable intelligent and thought-provoking discussion!

[@LeonGalindoStenutz]

Wolfram: "Consciousness is actually a step down from intelligence." "Intelligence is basically sophisticated computation..." Lot's to process in this dialogue... Huge implications for political, economic, ecologic, & social philosophy, let alone for the worlds of computation and math. What a time we live in. What a conversation! Thanks Lex and Stephen... Gotta carve time out of time to really listen, process, and enjoy this Sacher Torte of a conversation.

[@Constantinesis]

Glad i am not the only one who is so much impacted by Wolfram`s theory. Unfortunately I am trying to ask questions and start dialogues on various forums and posts but I didnt get much answers yet.

[@heatherleighsunaoka9524]

This guy is fascinating. I just wish I had understood him. I know Larsen-Freeman’s Complexity Theory and as an English professor overseas, I’m in love with her grammar book. Thank you for not dumbing this down because you’re making me step up my game.

[@time4jesus]

I sometimes put KZbin on to help me get to sleep. I quite literally woke up to this video. What a way to start the day! Subbed.

[@carrito1981]

Love Wolfram! But I gotta give him a nickname... Stephen "Back in the 1980s" Wolfram. XD

[@gridreeves]

so to speak

[@NLBoots]

It's gotta be "The Wolfman" :)

[@aaronblackartt]

So to speak

[@aaronblackartt]

@@gridreeves so to speak

[@lemongavine]

His glory days, apparently

[@NeonVisual]

If a video game character was conscious and had lots of scientist friends, they might use the tools around them to figure out that pixels are the smallest unit of measurement in their universe. They then might start to realise that pixels themselves are made out of something else. For us looking at the video game we know that it's all just a representation of what is going on in the CPU and graphics card, and may start to see that pixels very far apart seem to act instantly without distance. Again for us we know this is because it's all happening in the CPU. I wonder if said video game characters would ever figure out that the deeper level to their reality is electrons they can't see, touch or feel, but is all taking place in (our) completely different physical reality. It makes me wonder if we'll never actually be able to get to the bottom of our universe and the reason it's here, or if the knowledge we need is unattainable because we're just seeing an inside representation crated by a mechanism completely out of our reach and perception, and no matter how far we look or how much we drill down, we'll never have access to the key bits of information to go any deeper than the pixels.

[@cogoid]

You can easily imagine toy universes in which characters can or cannot reach the bottom level of implementation. This means there is likely no easy answer whether our universe falls into one kind or another. And in all likelihood even thinking of the "bottom" is a parochial notion, and everything might work in ways that are not even imaginable to us now, or perhaps ever.

[@platoman214]

Yes, that's where the mystics come in. The vision at Ostia is described in Augustine's Confessions, Book IX, Chapter 10. 'She', of course, is Monica: As the day now approached on which she was to depart this life--a day which thou knewest, but which we did not--it happened (though I believe it was by thy secret ways arranged) that she and I stood alone, leaning in a certain window from which the garden of the house we occupied at Ostia could be seen. Here in this place, removed from the crowd, we were resting ourselves for the voyage after the fatigues of a long journey. We were conversing alone very pleasantly and "forgetting those things which are past, and reaching forward toward those things which are future." We were in the present--and in the presence of Truth (which thou art)--discussing together what is the nature of the eternal life of the saints: which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man. We opened wide the mouth of our heart, thirsting for those supernal streams of thy fountain, "the fountain of life" which is with thee, that we might be sprinkled with its waters according to our capacity and might in some measure weigh the truth of so profound a mystery. And when our conversation had brought us to the point where the very highest of physical sense and the most intense illumination of physical light seemed, in comparison with the sweetness of that life to come, not worthy of comparison, nor even of mention, we lifted ourselves with a more ardent love toward the Selfsame [Idipsum], and we gradually passed through all the levels of bodily objects, and even through the heaven itself, where the sun and moon and stars shine on the earth. Indeed, we soared higher yet by an inner musing, speaking and marveling at thy works. And we came at last to our own minds and went beyond them, that we might climb as high as that region of unfailing plenty where thou feedest Israel forever with the food of truth, where life is that Wisdom by whom all things are made, both which have been and which are to be. Wisdom is not made, but is as she has been and forever shall be; for "to have been" and "to be hereafter" do not apply to her, but only "to be," because she is eternal and "to have been" and "to be hereafter" are not eternal. And while we were thus speaking and straining after her, we just barely touched her with the whole effort of our hearts. Then with a sigh, leaving the first fruits of the Spirit bound to that ecstasy, we returned to the sounds of our own tongue, where the spoken word had both beginning and end. But what is like to thy Word, our Lord, who remaineth in himself without becoming old, and "makes all things new"? branemrys.blogspot.com/2010/08/vision-at-ostia.html

[@fairmothers9002]

Fall: or dodge in hell, by neal stephenson.

[@reeyanmaknojiya8921]

Wow!

[@gladeloy3341]

and would they ask themselves, "why am i shooting this guy ?"

[@Constantinesis]

its been a week since I am almost daily listening or reading on Stephen Wolfram`s model and i can say it definitely helped me crystalize my view of the world.

[@rajeevgangal542]

Elaborate please. Here or a blog? I find his ideas intriguing but dense and....

[@LeonGalindoStenutz]

@Constantine, I'm with @Rajeev Gangal -- would love to hear you elaborate on this. I am trying to figure out the same... Thanks!

[@AndreasJansson2010]

One of the best interviews I've ever heard! Thanks Lex and Stephen!

[@fernly2]

Vernadsky considered exponentially Increasing complexity the natural law of Creation if I understand him correctly. Then Lanza identified the perpetual nature of the conscious observation of creation requiring personal participation in our process of creation. In pretty sure I’m not clearly stating this issue of creation and conscious, so happy we have such a fascinating time to around.

[@jabatheshort660]

Dude your so lucky, what I would give for even one conversation with Stephen wolfram, much less 3 entire hours long talks

[@richarddavis5603]

You do a great job Lex

[@Nochancet.v]

This guy is amazing I wish I had his observations of the universe

[@mkkrupp2462]

Truly amazing - if only I could understand half of it ….

[@rauckr09]

Stephen Wolfram is one of the most amazing people I have ever listened to. I have heard estimates of his IQ as approaching 200, but obviously, no one knows. I have been following his Physics Project to the extent that I can.

[@Ydnar1155]

Man you're good Lex! You walk through a conversation, dropping golden ideas for these very intelligent people to pick up and run with! How many do they pick up 1/3rd or .333?

[@coleyoutubechannel]

So cool he has come on the podcast 3 times now. He’s truly creating some brilliant programs.