3 hr 11 min

#89 – Stephen Wolfram: Cellular Automata, Computation, and Physics Lex Fridman Podcast

    • Technology

Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist who is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a company behind Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the new Wolfram Physics project. He is the author of several books including A New Kind of Science, which on a personal note was one of the most influential books in my journey in computer science and artificial intelligence.



Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors:

- ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod

- Cash App - use code "LexPodcast" and download:

- Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe

- Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w



EPISODE LINKS:

Stephen's Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_wolfram

Stephen's Website: https://www.stephenwolfram.com/

Wolfram Research Twitter: https://twitter.com/WolframResearch

Wolfram Research YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WolframResearch

Wolfram Research Website: https://www.wolfram.com/

Wolfram Alpha: https://www.wolframalpha.com/

A New Kind of Science (book): https://amzn.to/34JruB2



This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.



Here's the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.



OUTLINE:

00:00 - Introduction

04:16 - Communicating with an alien intelligence

12:11 - Monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey

29:06 - What is computation?

44:54 - Physics emerging from computation

1:14:10 - Simulation

1:19:23 - Fundamental theory of physics

1:28:01 - Richard Feynman

1:39:57 - Role of ego in science

1:47:21 - Cellular automata

2:15:08 - Wolfram language

2:55:14 - What is intelligence?

2:57:47 - Consciousness

3:02:36 - Mortality

3:05:47 - Meaning of life

Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist who is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a company behind Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the new Wolfram Physics project. He is the author of several books including A New Kind of Science, which on a personal note was one of the most influential books in my journey in computer science and artificial intelligence.



Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors:

- ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod

- Cash App - use code "LexPodcast" and download:

- Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe

- Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w



EPISODE LINKS:

Stephen's Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_wolfram

Stephen's Website: https://www.stephenwolfram.com/

Wolfram Research Twitter: https://twitter.com/WolframResearch

Wolfram Research YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WolframResearch

Wolfram Research Website: https://www.wolfram.com/

Wolfram Alpha: https://www.wolframalpha.com/

A New Kind of Science (book): https://amzn.to/34JruB2



This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.



Here's the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.



OUTLINE:

00:00 - Introduction

04:16 - Communicating with an alien intelligence

12:11 - Monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey

29:06 - What is computation?

44:54 - Physics emerging from computation

1:14:10 - Simulation

1:19:23 - Fundamental theory of physics

1:28:01 - Richard Feynman

1:39:57 - Role of ego in science

1:47:21 - Cellular automata

2:15:08 - Wolfram language

2:55:14 - What is intelligence?

2:57:47 - Consciousness

3:02:36 - Mortality

3:05:47 - Meaning of life

3 hr 11 min

Top Podcasts In Technology

Acquired
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
All-In Podcast, LLC
No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups
Conviction | Pod People
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
Hard Fork
The New York Times
TED Radio Hour
NPR