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I would recommend starting with Part 1, rather than Part 2 (which was linked). Here is Part 1: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/computational-foundat
by boole1854 4y ago
I would recommend starting with Part 1, rather than Part 2 (which was linked). Here is Part 1: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/computational-foundations-for-the-second-law-of-thermodynamics/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/computational-fo...
Wolfram's ability to create interesting visualizations is fantastic. But I seem to feel underwhelmed at the significance of his discovery.
In short, he says that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is a consequence of the fact that we as observers are computationally bounded and cannot perceive all the details in the the lower-level, computationally irreducible physical systems around us.
Yet this does not seem enormously different, or perhaps not different at all, than the standard account in statistical mechanics in which the observer is considered to be coarse-graining over the fine details of the system which are too complex to track.
What is new in Wolfram's approach other than using computation-related labels to describe the situation? For example, his 'computationally bounded' observer is just the standard 'coarse-graining', right?
- dkural 4y agoYou are right. There is nothing new here.
- kgwgk 4y ago> I would recommend starting with Part 1, rather than Part 2 (which was linked) I think part 2 is much more interesting. If anyone starts with part 1 and decides to give up on it I would recommend that they give part 2 a chance. The subject and the style are quite different.