Computing a theory of everything | Stephen Wolfram

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Published 2010-04-27
www.ted.com/ Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica, talks about his quest to make all knowledge computational -- able to be searched, processed and manipulated. His new search engine, Wolfram Alpha, has no lesser goal than to model and explain the physics underlying the universe.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

All Comments (21)
  • @FuckOrFudge
    10 years later and I thought wolfram was simply for checking my calculus homework...
  • Wolfram is living proof of how awesome the times we're living are.
  • @erikcs2306
    And 10 years later, they're managing the imposible... This is amazing!!
  • @Snoopod
    Open-sourcing wolfram alpha technologies would be an incredible thing for the world
  • @-E-M-M-
    I'm so happy to live in the same century this man lives.
  • It's kinda crazy to think that when this video came out I didn't know any english and now that I'm finally ready to watch it 10 years later my mind is blown
  • @gulllars4620
    I could watch this guy talk for hours. He is bursting with knowledge, ideas and passion. Probably one of the greatest geniuses currently alive. Now i really want to see a few hours long discussion between him and Nathan Myhrvold on a range of topics they find interesting.
  • @zarco9999
    World takes 10 years to understand this... amazing
  • @newtocamelot
    This talk reminded me of Benoit Mandelbrot's work. So cool that he was in the audience.
  • @ManOleg38
    That is a real scientist. Respect and honor to him a lot.
  • @Cyanidespork
    This is the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. This is human changing stuff.
  • @danielon252
    And today in Covid times, he came out with the way to acomplish the idea
  • @MattUebel
    Absolutely wonderful ideas. Very interesting concept... take the idea of different rule sets and the two dimensional cellular automata, and expand it to "reality creation." The key is the understanding that simple rules can lead to incredible complexity. I wish Stephen, and us, all the luck.
  • @creativepower213
    Genius. I tried pulling data on some really remote places in the world and it still gave me a clear outcome direct from the source. Good stuff.
  • @themexyeti
    And this dude just did it in the middle of the covid19 pandemic
  • @chrisy.7501
    I have forgotten this lecture since I added into my playlist. I played this day and it was so helpful. I lv yu bro! thank you so much!
  • @avedic
    I get the counter-arguments against Wolfram's ideas....BUT....I utterly applaud his exuberance, creative outside-the-box thinking, and passion. So what if he's not 100% right about all this? At least he's willing to ask big questions and seek big answers. The people who truly revolutionize our paradigms are always people willing to take risks. People who avoid failure and being wrong are never the ones who change the world. I find Stephen Wolfram inspiring....he's a truly intelligent guy with a radical perspective. It's refreshing to see someone explore far-out ideas. Too many people today seem content with playing it safe...while looking down on those who take real risks. Personally, I'm in awe of the people willing to take those risks. There's nothing inspiring about someone who's worried about making mistakes. Intelligent creative people love mistakes....because a mistake leads to new ideas. If you never make mistakes or try out crazy ideas, you never know what you might be missing. I'm not mathematically adept enough to understand all of what Wolfram is proposing, but from what I do understand it seems he's on to something. Glad there are people like him willing to be adventurous. Fuck the nay-sayers. ^__^
  • @darkofius
    Dr. Stephen Wolfram is assuredly a polymath, and more. To bring us such a reach new tools into our everyday life is more than one could expect. The fact that his reach is far deeper than one might easily perceive is another sign of his intellectual proves. Let’s thank him for his efforts and work  in the past in let him know, that we are gratefully expecting more in the future. Yours, Darko Fius
  • 👏👏👏👐👐. This is exactly the path my intuition has been leading me down. This talk lay the concepts down so well and helped clarify my thoughts while sending chills down my spine. At least I know my imagination wasn't running away with me aimlessly. Ah, I've gained whole new clarity and certainty.