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There's a great discussion with Stephen Wolfram on the Sean Carroll podcast. Listening to it made me think very highly of Wolfram. He's a free thinking, eccen

There's a great discussion with Stephen Wolfram on the Sean Carroll podcast. Listening to it made me think very highly of Wolfram. He's a free thinking, eccentric, mathematician, scientist; who got started doing serious work at a very young age. He still has a youthful creative approach to thought and science. I hope LLMs do pair well with his tools.

jadbox 8mo ago
I'm fairly certain Stephen Wolfram will be one of the few intellectuals today that will still be remembered in 50 years.
- SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
  I already remember him from 25 years ago
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
- squeefers 8mo ago
  he seems to be a good software engineer at least, but what about his science? does it all revolve around re-modelling the universe in his software?
  - pletnes 8mo ago
    He got famous solving quantum field theory problems
    - squeefers 8mo ago
      he seems to think his times better spent on software than science it seems. i take it he didnt really crack anything of worth on the physics side then?
      - boznz 8mo ago
        To be fair, he's been trying, he's a big fan of cellular automaton.
kylecazar 8mo ago
He live streams the (internal) Wolfram Alpha product meetings on YouTube. It's really interesting to watch, I've been a fly on the wall for years.
- nphardon 8mo ago
  I knew about this but never attended, so cool!
- lcdryuga1983 8mo ago
  I tried finding this but couldn't find them on youtube. Can you please share the link for one of the videos?
  - dchest 8mo ago
    It's under the Live tab of Wolfram's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WolframResearch/streams https://www.youtube.com/@WolframResearch/streams Sessions are called Live CEOing, e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0KH0sfHI8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0KH0sfHI8
    - kylecazar 8mo ago
      Thanks, I should have linked. Also he cross-posts to his site: https://livestreams.stephenwolfram.com/category/live-ceoing/ https://livestreams.stephenwolfram.com/category/live-ceoing/ The next one is today, 4:30 PM ET!
      - lcdryuga1983 7mo ago
        Thank you!!
lioeters 8mo ago
To save others a search, here's the podcast with Wolfram. Stephen Wolfram on Computation, Hypergraphs, and Fundamental Physics - https://podbay.fm/p/sean-carrolls-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas/e/1626100014 https://podbay.fm/p/sean-carrolls-mindscape-science-society-... (2hr 40min) I'm a fan of his work and person too. Not a fanatic or evangelical level, but I do think he's one of the more historically relevant computer scientists and philosophers working today. I can overlook his occasional arrogance, and recognize that there's a genuine and original thinker who's been pursuing truth and knowledge for decades.
- mr_mitm 8mo ago
  Sean also publishes transcripts of all episodes; https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2021/07/12/155-stephen-wolfram-on-computation-hypergraphs-and-fundamental-physics/ https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2021/07/12/155-...
- atonse 8mo ago
  Same here. I've found the "me me me" a bit off-putting over the years, but can't deny that he is a genuinely smart, interesting, and forward thinking person. I especially enjoyed his writings on measuring every aspect of his life [1]. Also Wolfram (person and company) don't seem to be stodgy and stuck in old ways. At least as an outside observer (I'm not a mathematician, nor do I use Wolfram's main tools), seem to handle new trends with their own unique contributions to augment those trends: Wolfram Alpha was a genuinely useful and good tool, perfect for the times. These tools will actually further supercharge LLMs in certain use cases. They've provided multiple ways to adopt them. Looking forward to see what people will do with this stuff. 1: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-analytics-of-my-life/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-ana...
jazzyjackson 8mo ago
He's been in AI-land forever, the whole idea of Wolfram Alpha circa 2009 was to transform natural language into algorithms. I met him briefly in New York when he was on a panel on AI ethics in 2016, and ya, dude is sharp.

jadbox 8mo ago

I'm fairly certain Stephen Wolfram will be one of the few intellectuals today that will still be remembered in 50 years.

SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
I already remember him from 25 years ago
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
squeefers 8mo ago
he seems to be a good software engineer at least, but what about his science? does it all revolve around re-modelling the universe in his software?
- pletnes 8mo ago
  He got famous solving quantum field theory problems
  - squeefers 8mo ago
    he seems to think his times better spent on software than science it seems. i take it he didnt really crack anything of worth on the physics side then?
    - boznz 8mo ago
      To be fair, he's been trying, he's a big fan of cellular automaton.

kylecazar 8mo ago

He live streams the (internal) Wolfram Alpha product meetings on YouTube. It's really interesting to watch, I've been a fly on the wall for years.

nphardon 8mo ago
I knew about this but never attended, so cool!
lcdryuga1983 8mo ago
I tried finding this but couldn't find them on youtube. Can you please share the link for one of the videos?
- dchest 8mo ago
  It's under the Live tab of Wolfram's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WolframResearch/streams https://www.youtube.com/@WolframResearch/streams Sessions are called Live CEOing, e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0KH0sfHI8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0KH0sfHI8
  - kylecazar 8mo ago
    Thanks, I should have linked. Also he cross-posts to his site: https://livestreams.stephenwolfram.com/category/live-ceoing/ https://livestreams.stephenwolfram.com/category/live-ceoing/ The next one is today, 4:30 PM ET!
    - lcdryuga1983 7mo ago
      Thank you!!

lioeters 8mo ago

To save others a search, here's the podcast with Wolfram. Stephen Wolfram on Computation, Hypergraphs, and Fundamental Physics - https://podbay.fm/p/sean-carrolls-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas/e/1626100014 https://podbay.fm/p/sean-carrolls-mindscape-science-society-... (2hr 40min) I'm a fan of his work and person too. Not a fanatic or evangelical level, but I do think he's one of the more historically relevant computer scientists and philosophers working today. I can overlook his occasional arrogance, and recognize that there's a genuine and original thinker who's been pursuing truth and knowledge for decades.

mr_mitm 8mo ago
Sean also publishes transcripts of all episodes; https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2021/07/12/155-stephen-wolfram-on-computation-hypergraphs-and-fundamental-physics/ https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2021/07/12/155-...
atonse 8mo ago
Same here. I've found the "me me me" a bit off-putting over the years, but can't deny that he is a genuinely smart, interesting, and forward thinking person. I especially enjoyed his writings on measuring every aspect of his life [1]. Also Wolfram (person and company) don't seem to be stodgy and stuck in old ways. At least as an outside observer (I'm not a mathematician, nor do I use Wolfram's main tools), seem to handle new trends with their own unique contributions to augment those trends: Wolfram Alpha was a genuinely useful and good tool, perfect for the times. These tools will actually further supercharge LLMs in certain use cases. They've provided multiple ways to adopt them. Looking forward to see what people will do with this stuff. 1: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-analytics-of-my-life/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-ana...

jazzyjackson 8mo ago

He's been in AI-land forever, the whole idea of Wolfram Alpha circa 2009 was to transform natural language into algorithms. I met him briefly in New York when he was on a panel on AI ethics in 2016, and ya, dude is sharp.