You like Stephen Wolfram, right?
I mean, if he’s to be believed, he has reinvented physics, not to mention philosophy.
How could you not like such a thinker?
Well... it turns out that there are plenty of people who don’t like Stephen Wolfram... or his physics... or his philosophy.
Here are four criticisms of Stephen Wolfram I regularly hear...
...and here’s why these criticisms, though they hint at uncomfortable truths, nonetheless miss the mark.
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Stephen Wolfram:
• Stephen Wolfram’s web site https://www.stephenwolfram.com/
• Timeline https://www.stephenwolfram.com/scrapbook/timeline/
• TED talks https://www.ted.com/speakers/stephen_wolfram
• List of podcast appearances https://lasttheory.com/list/best-wolfram-physics-podcasts
• List of video appearances https://lasttheory.com/list/best-wolfram-physics-videos
Stephen Wolfram’s claims:
• He has a path to the fundamental theory of physics https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful/
• He has an answer to the question: what is an observer? https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/12/observer-theory/
• He has an answer to the question: what is consciousness? https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2021/03/what-is-consciousness-some-new-perspectives-from-our-physics-project/
• He has an answer to the question: why does the universe exist? https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2021/04/why-does-the-universe-exist-some-perspectives-from-our-physics-project/
• He seems surprised at how little discussion there has been of his answer to the question: why does the universe exist? https://youtu.be/4-SGpEInX_c?t=7625
Some of the things Stephen Wolfram created:
• 1987 Wolfram Research https://www.wolfram.com/company/
• 1988 Mathematica https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/
• 2009 Wolfram Alpha https://www.wolframalpha.com/
• 2014 Wolfram Language https://www.wolfram.com/language/
• 2020 Wolfram Physics https://www.wolframphysics.org/
Other people involved in the Wolfram Physics Project:
• Jonathan Gorard https://www.wolframphysics.org/people/jonathan-gorard/
• Max Piskunov https://maxitg.notion.site/Max-Piskunov-2f9cd7bebc064d2e82dee290b28ccd28
Other people mentioned in this episode:
• Freeman Dyson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson – quote https://www.newsweek.com/great-minds-great-ideas-145749
• Sean Carroll https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ – quote https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-criticize-stephen-wolframs-theory-of-everything/ – Mindscape podcast https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ – episode #155 with Stephen Wolfram https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2021/07/12/155-stephen-wolfram-on-computation-hypergraphs-and-fundamental-physics/
• Katie Mack https://www.astrokatie.com/ – quote https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-criticize-stephen-wolframs-theory-of-everything/
• Adam Mastroianni https://www.adammastroianni.com/ – The rise and fall of peer review https://www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-and-fall-of-peer-review
• Father Strickland – quote https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/21/doing-good-selfless/
Brilliant people of the past:
• Leonardo da Vinci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
• Gregor Mendel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel
• Nikola Tesla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
• Aristotle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle
• Galileo Galilei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
• Isaac Newton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton
• Albert Einstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
• Max Born https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Born
• Paul Dirac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dirac
• Werner Heisenberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg
• Erwin Schrödinger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schrödinger
• Wolfgang Pauli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli
Other episodes of The Last Theory mentioned:
• Why has there been no progress in physics since 1973? https://youtu.be/hda0_31_dyc
• Peer review is suffocating science https://youtu.be/oF-2QJHy53M
Reference:
• Wolfram Research has over 800 employees https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/103630-96#overview
Images:
• Freeman Dyson 2005 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freeman_Dyson_(2005).jpg by ioerror https://www.flickr.com/photos/ioerror/ licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
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The Last Theory https://lasttheory.com/ is hosted by Mark Jeffery https://markjeffery.com/ founder of Open Web Mind https://www.openwebmind.com/
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