#124 – Stephen Wolfram: Fundamental Theory of Physics, Life, and the Universe

About this episode

<p>Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist. This is our second conversation on the podcast.</p> <p>Please check out our sponsors to get a discount and to support this podcast:<br /> &#8211; <strong>SimpliSafe</strong>: <a href="https://simplisafe.com/lex">https://simplisafe.com/lex</a><br /> &#8211; <strong>Sun Basket</strong>, use code LEX: <a href="https://sunbasket.com/lex">https://sunbasket.com/lex</a><br /> &#8211; <strong>MasterClass</strong>: <a href="https://masterclass.com/lex">https://masterclass.com/lex</a></p> <p>If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/podcast">https://lexfridman.com/podcast</a>&#160;or connect with @lexfridman on <a href="https://twitter.com/lexfridman">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman/">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@lexfridman">Medium</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/lexfridman">YouTube</a> where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1434243584">Apple Podcasts</a>, follow on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2MAi0BvDc6GTFvKFPXnkCL">Spotify</a>, or support it on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman">Patreon</a>.</p> <p>Here&#8217;s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.</p> <p>OUTLINE:<br /> 00:00 &#8211; Introduction<br /> 07:14 &#8211; Key moments in history of physics<br /> 12:43 &#8211; Philosophy of science<br /> 14:37 &#8211; Science and computational reducibility<br /> 22:08 &#8211; Predicting the pandemic<br /> 38:58 &#8211; Sunburn moment with Wolfram Alpha<br /> 39:46 &#8211; Computational irreducibility<br /> 46:45 &#8211; Theory of everything<br /> 52:41 &#8211; General relativity<br /> 1:01:16 &#8211; Quantum mechanics<br /> 1:06:46 &#8211; Unifying the laws of physics<br /> 1:12:01 &#8211; Wolfram Physics Project<br /> 1:29:53 &#8211; Emergence of time<br /> 1:34:11 &#8211; Causal invariance<br /> 1:53:03 &#8211; Deriving physics from simple rules on hypergraphs<br /> 2:07:24 &#8211; Einstein equations<br /> 2:13:04 &#8211; Simulating the physics of the universe<br /> 2:17:28 &#8211; Hardware specs of the simulation<br /> 2:24:37 &#8211; Quantum mechanics in Wolfram physics model<br /> 2:42:46 &#8211; Double-slit experiment<br /> 2:45:13 &#8211; Quantum computers<br /> 2:53:21 &#8211; Getting started with Wolfram physics project<br /> 3:14:46 &#8211; The rules that created our universe<br /> 3:24:22 &#8211; Alien intelligences<br /> 3:32:29 &#8211; Meta-mathematics<br /> 3:37:58 &#8211; Why is math hard?<br /> 3:52:55 &#8211; Sabine Hossenfelder and how beauty leads physics astray<br /> 4:01:07 &#8211; Eric Weinstein and Geometric Unity<br /> 4:06:17 &#8211; Travel faster than speed of light<br /> 4:16:59 &#8211; Why does the universe exist at all</p>