The Last Theory

There are no rules in science

I’m forever hearing that there are rules in science. If a theory breaks the rules, I’m told, it must be rejected. Trouble is, if, in the past, we’d rejected any theory

Stephen Wolfram's 10 ways to have big ideas

Stephen Wolfram is an extraordinary thinker. He doesn’t seem to think like other scientists. He doesn’t seem to think like other technologists. And he certainly doesn’t

Why are we in the universe we're in?

If physics is computational, then what gets computed when? This is a surprisingly deep question. The seemingly even computation of the universe gives us a clue, not jus

Wolfram on philosophy

Stephen Wolfram has many philosophical ideas, but I’ve not heard him talk about pure philosophy. When I asked him about the relationship between physics and philosophy,

How different observers think differently with Stephen Wolfram

Do different observers think differently? Or does the principle of computational equivalence mean that all observers think the same way? Stephen Wolfram takes this quest

What is time in Wolfram Physics?

Physics, the way we’ve thought about it for the last few hundred years, requires us to make assumptions about time. In our old way of thinking, just as we must assume th

Think like an alien with Stephen Wolfram

Different observers, from different regions of the ruliad, experience the universe in different ways. To what extent can these different observers communicate their diff

Ruliad + observer = physics ... also aliens

The ruliad is every possible computation. What could you possibly say about such an enormous, all-encompassing object? Well, that’s where we come in. Particular observe

How to simplify the causal graph

The hypergraphs generated by Wolfram Physics are complex and chaotic. The multiway graphs that trace every possible evolution of these hypergraphs become extremely compl

Where's Mark?

It’s been a while since my last episode of The Last Theory or Open Web Mind. Where am I? It might look like I’m lazing in the sun, but actually I’ve been working hard.

Black holes in the hypergraph with Stephen Wolfram

Electrons may be tiny black holes propagating through the hypergraph. After all, electrons and black holes have much in common: they’re carriers of pure motion, they’re

The causal graph is objective reality

The multiway graph shows every possible evolution of the universe. So, if we can compute every possible reality, does that mean that there’s no single objective reality?

Stephen Wolfram on AI, human-like minds & formal knowledge

In this fascinating exposition, Stephen Wolfram connects two of the most important breakthroughs of our time: AI and the ruliad. I ask Stephen how he thinks about knowle

Multiway minds with Stephen Wolfram

Can you hold in your mind two different threads of experience? In this five-minute excerpt from my conversation with Stephen Wolfram, he introduces the strange idea of a

Do fields exist?

Fields don’t exist. I mean, a field with grass in it, that kind of field does exist. But a field in physics? A gravitational field? An electric field? A magnetic field

Aggregation – how the Wolfram model weaves the future – with Stephen Wolfram

In the previous excerpt from my conversation with Stephen Wolfram, I asked him how I can remain a single, coherent, persistent consciousness in a branching universe. In

When the universe branches, what happens to me? with Stephen Wolfram

When the universe branches, we branch with it. Those branches don’t remain forever apart. They come back together. So we, as conscious observers, are rescued from split

What is the causal graph in Wolfram Physics?

The causal graph is at the core of Wolfram Physics. It’s crucial to the derivations of Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. And if that’s not e

Is everything determined? with Stephen Wolfram

Is everything that’s ever going to happen in the universe already determined? Or does something else – maybe randomness, maybe free will – play a role? Stephen Wolfram’

Why is space three-dimensional? with Stephen Wolfram

Hypergraphs can have any number of dimensions. They can be 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, 4.81-dimensional or, in the limit, ∞-dimensional. So how does the three-dimensio